I Think We're Alone Now
by JaninaM8
Summary: AU; Modern. Contains incest! Robb and Sansa were lovers as teenagers, and then after a horrible accident Robb in which Sansa lost her memories of them, Robb goes away to get his life in order and to allow Sansa to do the same. Now he is back...
1. Chapter 1

**I have this story published elsewhere, but I thought I'd see how it was received here. If it's not, I'll just pull it and keep posting elsewhere.**

 **Chapter One**

"Are you excited to see your brother again?" Catelyn Stark asked her daughter over breakfast that morning.

Sansa finished taking a sip of her orange juice and shrugged. She put her glass down and tossed some of her auburn hair over her shoulder. "Sure." She knew that response was lacking any enthusiasm, but she felt as though she didn't really know her older brother (by two years) much anymore despite how everyone told her that she and Robb had been very close pre-accident. The accident that had stolen most of her memories.

"I'm excited," Bran, her younger brother said.

"Me too," Arya chimed in.

"I am too," Rickon said, even though he remembered even less than Sansa being that he'd been all of ten when Robb had left.

Sansa didn't say anything mainly because she didn't know what to say. Robb leaving hadn't affected her that much since she'd had so many gaps in her memory at the time. She remembered Robb now, but some things were still hazy as he hadn't been there to fill in the blanks. He almost felt like a ghost to her.

Actually, her whole family had been a bit of a mystery to her at the time. The accident had done a doozy all right. She didn't know how many times she'd heard she was lucky to be alive. Robb, too. There had been someone else as well, some asshole named Joffrey that had ended up crippled after he'd run her and Robb off the road. Apparently, Joffrey had been her boyfriend at the time and he'd smacked her around.

This is what she'd been told anyway. Sansa didn't remember any part of the accident. She didn't even remember Joffrey. Whatever she could see play out in her head when she thought of it, she was sure it was just because the story of it had snuck into her subconscious after being told what happened so many times.

"I know it's been five years, but I still can't believe he left us," Arya said. She'd been sixteen when Robb had left.

"He didn't leave us," Catelyn said. "He's been busy figuring his life out."

"Did he not have it figured out while he was here?" Bran asked. He'd been fourteen at the time.

Catelyn looked like she was considering this. "Not really. He was floundering. He had no goals. No ambition beyond working as a library clerk."

Something niggled at the back of Sansa's mind as she tried to remember more clearly that time in all their lives. _He'd been waiting for me to finish high school,_ she thought. _He wanted us to go away together._ Was that right though? She wasn't sure. So, she said nothing.

"Sansa? You all right, dear?"

Sansa looked at her mother's worried blue eyes – blue eyes that were much like hers (minus the worry)—and smiled. "I'm fine, Mom."

"You went away for a minute," Catelyn said.

Sansa shrugged. "I'm here. I was thinking that I needed to go to the library for a while actually. I have a paper to work on."

Catelyn smiled. "Just be back for your brother. He's due to arrive around four."

Sansa nodded and pushed her chair back. She stood and grabbed her breakfast dishes. "Sure thing."

xxxxxxxx

Sansa cursed under her breath when she saw the black sports car in the driveway that had to be Robb's. She was late, by at least an hour. She'd lost track of time while surfing journal articles for her child psychology class for her paper. Then her friend Jon had caught up with her, doing research for his own paper and they'd got to talking for a couple hours.

When Sansa had left the library, she'd had a dozen texts from her mother, Bran, and Arya. All of them wondering where she was. Robb was there, they'd all said. Robb was home and wanted to see her. _Robb was home. Robb was home. Robb was home._ Since her brother had announced he was coming home two months ago, that was all Sansa heard about. Her mother had gone nuts preparing the finished basement for him and turning it into a mini-apartment. Sansa wasn't sure why Robb just couldn't have had his old bedroom. Sure his room had changed into a guest room then into the catch-all of crap that no one wanted to find a home for. All they'd needed to do was clean it out and he could have had his old room. But no, instead he got a whole new room in the basement.

She felt bad for feeling almost ambivalent about his return. She found it odd, too, that she should be nervous about seeing him at the same time.

She slung her purse and computer bag over her shoulder and pulled her hair out from under the straps as she hurried up the path to the house. She wondered when her father would be coming home. If she remembered correctly, he had a case in court that day. He might not be home until late.

She stepped inside the house and toed off her shoes. "I'm home!" she called out.

She heard laughter, then footsteps.

"Sansa."

She looked up as she set her computer bag and purse on the floor. Robb stood there, hands at his sides, wearing jeans and white t-shirt. His blue eyes were piercing, his auburn locks were curly whereas her hair was straight as a pin. He had a closely shaved beard, and he was tall and muscular and quite handsome. He was the same as she remembered, and yet different. Older.

He smiled at her, his expression tender.

"Hi, Robb," she said with a small smile. Why did she feel a blush coming on?

He strode over to her and hugged her, catching her off guard. She hugged him back, but felt awkward about it.

"I missed you," he whispered. He sounded almost choked up.

"Sansa, there you are!" Catelyn said from somewhere behind her and Robb. "Robb, for heaven's sake, give her a moment to get in and get settled."

Robb let Sansa go, but he didn't take his eyes off her. His smile was easy, but there was a tension there Sansa noticed. Catelyn was looking closely at her son. She looked oddly tense as well.

"Sorry I'm late," she told her mother and brother. "I lost track of time."

"How's school going?" Robb asked her and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"It's going well," Sansa replied and tucked some hair behind her ear. "I graduate in a month."

"I know," Robb said.

Sansa wasn't sure why she found it odd that he should know that. He talked to their mother all the time, no doubt he'd been kept abreast of what all his siblings were up to.

"Sansa, why don't you come and help me with dinner? Your father's case is done and he'll be home in about an hour." Sansa nodded, flashed Robb a smile, and then followed her Mother to the kitchen.

xxxxxxxx

Everyone was talking at once, as per usual, at dinner. Everyone but Sansa anyway. Robb was fielding question after question from his parents and his siblings.

He'd gone to Southern California University and had majored in law. He'd decided he didn't want to stay in "So. Cal" and decided to complete his Masters at Winterfell University. Their father had gotten him a job in his practice so he could have hands on experience. With the money he made there, he planned to get his own place.

He didn't have a girlfriend (Arya was curious).

He had met one celebrity while in California (Channing Tatum. Bran wanted to know).

He learned how to surf. (Rickon then wanted Robb to teach him).

When dinner was over, Sansa helped her mother clean up while everyone else went into the living room to continue their interrogations of Robb. She would have thought they'd had enough of that from earlier.

"How do you feel honey?" Catelyn asked. "You were quiet at dinner."

Sansa shrugged. "I'm fine."

When the last dish was placed in the dishwasher, Sansa went into the living room to see what was going on and found Rickon and Bran were already gone, Arya was talking on the phone, and her father and Robb were watching TV. Sansa perched on the armrest of the couch and looked at the TV.

"Dishes all done, honey?" her father asked.

"Yup," Sansa said and got up. She didn't feel like watching _Doctor Who_.

Halfway up the stairs, she heard Robb saying her name. She turned and found him at the bottom of the stairs, smiling up at her. "Do you want to go for a ride?" he asked.

"To where?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Nowhere specific. Just for a ride. We used to…" he trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Used to what?"

He cleared his throat. "We used to go for rides all the time."

Then why hadn't he just said that?

"Sure," she said and came back down the stairs.

When they passed by their mother in the kitchen and told their mother they were going out, she actually looked worried. "Do you think that's a good idea, Robb?" Catelyn asked.

Sansa looked at her mother in confusion. "What's bad about it?" she asked. "The accident was five years ago, Mom. It's not like Robb and I can't be in the same car together anymore because of it."

No one said a word. Sansa didn't get it, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. It was long overdue for everyone to be over that accident. It was done and over with. Why was her mother being so weird about it?

"It's fine, Mom," Robb said and kissed Catelyn's cheek. "There is nothing to worry about."

Sansa asked exactly what she was thinking: "Why wouldn't it be fine?" But neither one answered her.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Flashback_**

 _"_ _Where are you taking us?" Sansa asked softly from the passenger side of Robb's Nissan._

 _"_ _Where do you want to go?" Robb asked and reached out for her hand._

 _She slipped it into his without question. "How about the park?"_

 _"_ _The park it is then."_

 _Once they arrived at the park, Robb parked in the parking lot in the way back. It was dark in that lot. They would be unseen. He put the car in park and Sansa slipped into the backseat without a word. Robb frowned. "Don't you want to talk?" he asked and looked over his shoulder at her._

 _She arched a brow. "We talk all the time."_

 _He sighed and faced forward. "Do you think I bring you here just to make love to you?"_

 _She laughed and her panties hit him on the side of his face. "How do you know_ I _don't just bring you here to make love to_ you _?" she countered._

 _"_ _I drove us here," he said._

 _"_ _I asked you to."_

 _She had a point. He didn't know why he was stalling. He was hard already and had been since they'd gotten in the car. Their little rides always led to this. It was one of the very few ways they could ever be together._

 _Robb discarded his own shirt and climbed into the back. Her skirt was rucked up and she still had on her shirt. If they were home and alone, she would be naked. But here, in the park where there was a chance of being caught, they didn't get completely naked just in case. Robb hurriedly discarded his jeans and boxers and rolled a condom onto his length. He crawled on top of her and she cradled him between her thighs. She smiled at him as she ran her hands through his curls. He shut his eyes, enjoying her touch._

 _"_ _Kiss me, Robb," she whispered._

 _He obliged because he'd wanted to kiss her all day long. Their tongues met and Robb groaned._

 _"_ _Fuck me," she whispered._

 _"_ _Don't say that," he said. "I don't like it when you say that."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"_ _Because you make it sound dirty."_

 _She looked at him incredulously. "Robb, we're siblings who have sex. It is dirty."_

 _"_ _No, we're siblings who love each other and make love, Sansa," he corrected. "I love you. Don't you love me?"_

 _She looked up at him tenderly. "You know I do."_

 _He reached down in between them and teased her folds while checking her readiness. She moaned and clutched at him harder. He pulled his fingers away and slowly eased himself inside her. She was so wet for him. He knew she probably had been wet the entire time he'd been hard. He pressed his forehead to hers and held himself inside her. "My Sansa…"_

 _She pushed at him, trying to get him to move and he did. He thrust slowly inside her wet heat and as his release came closer and closer, he began to speed up._

 _"_ _I love you, Sansa," he muttered as he framed her face with his big hands. "I love you more than anyone or anything in the world."_

 _She moaned as her nails scraped up his back. "I love you, Robb."_

 _"_ _We'll be together one day," he muttered, his release coming near. "Yes?"_

 _"_ _Yes!" she cried out as she came and Robb followed her into orgasm. Watching her come always set him off. He lay atop of her after, the both of them catching their breath. Sansa wound herself around him and pressed kisses to his shoulder and the side of his face. She knew he would stay there on top of her for a while. She knew that he could not bear to leave her until he absolutely had to._

 ** _End Flashback_**

It was not the time to remember such things, Robb thought. Now he was hard and his heart ached for all he'd lost.

He was home and yet…not. Sansa remembered nothing of him – of them. He'd known this already considering when she'd woken up from the week long coma she'd been in she had looked at them all as though they were strangers. Robb had thought that out of everyone though, she would remember him. How could she forget how they'd loved each other as a man and a woman did, and not just as a brother and sister? Yet she had. He'd hoped and prayed that her memories would come back, but they never had.

Then he'd had to go away, which he knew was for the best. While he hadn't been at fault for the accident – that was all that prick Joffrey's fault – he went away to get himself together. To let Sansa heal without him hovering and hoping.

Now he was back, and though he'd told himself he wouldn't hope and would just be her big brother and nothing more, he still wanted so badly for her to look at him in that special way she used to. Those looks that told him he was her guy and she was his girl.

Chances were slim now that she would ever remember. And he couldn't very well pursue her like a man would with a woman he wanted. He had a feeling this time she would have reservations that before she hadn't had much of. To make her remember would be cruel. What would it do to her psyche?

So, here he was, playing big brother and reminding himself to not touch her, to not remind her of what they'd been, to act normal and treat her the way he did Arya, Bran, and Rickon.

It was hard.

He'd dated in California, even had a couple girlfriends, but he never fell in love with them. Never wanted them the way he wanted Sansa. One look at her this afternoon and he found he wanted her just as he had then – more now that they'd been apart for so long. His love for her was like a living, breathing thing. She had consumed him then, and he feared he was about to be consumed again.

This time though, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Tell me what you've been up to," he said after they'd been driving for a while in silence. He knew she thought of him as somewhat of a stranger. As such, she didn't feel all that comfortable around him and therefore didn't talk much. He remembered when he couldn't get her to _stop_ talking.

"I'm sure you know everything already from Mom and Dad," she said.

"I want to hear it from you," he said. _I want you to feel comfortable with me,_ he thought. _Maybe we can't have what we were back, but I want something of our old dynamic to return. Like how you would tell me everything._

"Well," she began, "I took some time off after the accident to kind of get myself together. Then I applied to Winterfell University and started going there…" she trailed off. "My life is boring," she said with a laugh. "I go to school, I work part-time at Dad's office, and I hang out with my friends. That's it in a nutshell."

"Are you dating anyone?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Nope. I don't really have time, nor do I have an interest in anyone."

 _Good_ , Robb thought. And then he felt terrible for thinking that. He wanted Sansa to be happy. Of course he did. He just selfishly wanted her to be happy with _him_ as they'd planned so long ago.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Sansa lay on her front on her bed with her head turned toward Robb as he lay on his side, trailing fingers lazily up and down her bare back. It was one of those rare moments when they had the house to themselves. They'd taken advantage of it by making slow, leisurely love in Robb's bed._

 _"_ _What will happen to us?" Sansa asked him softly, her mouth partially covered by her arm._

 _Robb flattened his hand on her back and looked at her. "How do you mean exactly?"_

 _"_ _I mean, is this how it will always be? Sneaking around, waiting for those rare moments when we're alone?"_

 _"_ _No," he said firmly. "I've been thinking."_

 _She smiled. "Of course you have. Care to share?"_

 _He smiled. "Of course. See, we're both going to apply to a school far away from here. Very far. Like California far. We'll get our own apartment – leave me to sell that one to Mom and Dad. I'll tell them that this way I can look out for you and maybe we'd save money on room and board through the school. I'll come up with a sound argument. Then we'll have every day and every night together. Once we graduate, we'll move overseas. Maybe I'll even change my name so that no one will know over there that you're my sister."_

 _Sansa smiled. "You_ have _been thinking. And planning."_

 _"_ _Come closer, love," he whispered._

 _Sansa turned so that she was on her side. Robb pulled her against him and kissed her. "I love you, and I want us to be together always."_

 _"_ _We will be," she murmured and ran her hands through his curly locks. "I know we can make it happen."_

 ** _End Flashback_**

"Did we make snow angels in the snow when we were kids?" Sansa asked him, jarring him out of his memory.

He glanced at her and shifted in his seat. That memory hadn't helped his erection any. "We did."

"Did I dump a snowball in your hot chocolate once?" she asked.

He smiled. "Yes."

"I remember things like that – just odd little things," she murmured.

"Do you remember anything else?"

She frowned thoughtfully. "You eating lunch with me every day during my first week of high school."

"That happened," he muttered. It was around that time that Robb had realized his feelings for Sansa were not altogether brotherly.

She put her feet up, bracing them against the dash and sighed. Robb's gaze was drawn to her legs. Those long, sleek legs that used to wrap around him so well. His hands itched to touch them.

"Ooh, can we stop at 7-11? I want to get a slushy."

He grinned. "Some things never change."

She laughed. "Really?"

He nodded. "All the time, Sansa."

She smiled. "And you would take me to get one?"

"Of course."

Always after they'd made love and were headed back home.

He followed her in and she somehow convinced him to get one as well. By the time they'd arrived at home, she seemed much more relaxed with him. Robb was thankful for that. He might not be able to love Sansa the way he wanted, but at least he could have some part of her.

Before she headed up to bed she stopped him in the kitchen by putting her hand on his arm and demanding to see his tongue. He stuck it out and she laughed. "Blue!" She stuck hers out.

He smiled. "Red."

She kissed his cheek and Robb had to fist his hands at his sides to keep from grabbing her and kissing her the way he wanted. She ran up to her bedroom and Robb stood there not sure if he wanted to smile or cry or both.

"Robb."

He looked up and found his mother coming into the kitchen. She looked worried.

"Nothing happened," he told her. "You've nothing to worry about, Mother. Sansa doesn't remember."

"But you want her to."

"No," he said, and hoped he sounded firm. "I know what's at stake if she does. I know it's wrong what we did before and I don't want that for her. I don't want it for me either." God, he hoped he sounded convincing. He heard himself say the words, the practiced words, but he didn't feel them. He'd give anything for Sansa to remember, anything to have her back.

"I'm just not sure that going out together alone was wise—"

"She's still my sister," Robb said, a bit too sharply. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to snap at you."

"I want you both to be happy," Catelyn said. "It's better for both of you that she doesn't remember what went on."

Robb nodded. "I know. But you've nothing to worry about. Not this time. It's over and in the past where it belongs. Okay?" He feigned a smile and slowly Catelyn nodded.

"Get some rest, son," she said and headed for the stairs.

Robb raked a hand down his face. Over it? Not likely. He never would be. Five years couldn't do it. Her memory loss didn't do it. And he was pretty certain that putting him in the basement and far away from Sansa's bedroom wouldn't do it either.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The next morning when Robb made his way up the stairs showered and dressed and ready for the day, he found half the family sitting at breakfast. As was his custom before he left, he looked for Sansa first. She wasn't there. And he knew better than to ask.

He poured himself some coffee and made up a plate of the food laid out on the island while listening Arya and Bran talk about some movie they wanted to see. Catelyn looked up at him from the table and smiled. "How did you sleep, Robb?"

"Just fine, Mom," he said. Aside from laying there and wishing he could go to Sansa or that Sansa would come to him.

And then Sansa came barreling down the stairs, looking frantic. She ran past them all, a backpack slung over her shoulder and her auburn hair streaming behind her. Robb managed to catch her scent – raspberries – as she sailed past calling out, "I'm sorry, I'm late, see you guys later!"

Catelyn got up and ran after her shouting, "Don't speed!"

Robb forced himself to stay put. When Catelyn came back in the room he then forced himself not to ask if Sansa had even heard her. He went to the table, his plate of breakfast in hand and sat down. "So," he said in what he hoped sounded casual. "What's on the agenda for everyone today?"

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 _Sansa walked into the kitchen to get something to drink and found Robb at the sink, rinsing a dish. With a quick scan of the kitchen she found they were alone and she walked behind him and passed her hand over his ass as she walked by._

 _He jumped and then looked over at her as she giggled. She opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water and no sooner had she closed it than Robb was on her, kissing her voraciously. She dropped the water bottle and wound her arms around him as he pressed her against the fridge._

 _The sound of voices nearing caused them to practically leap apart. Robb whispered, "Come see me later," before he ran up the stairs._

"Hello? You back there?" snapped the girl in front of Sansa in class.

Sansa snapped to attention and grabbed the papers that were being waved in front of her face. She flushed, thinking how embarrassing it would be if people could read her mind.

Her dream last night wouldn't leave her alone. Of all the things to dream about why in the bloody hell had she dreamed of her _brother_ kissing her? Something was wrong with her. Sure she had been happy to see him yesterday, sure she also felt a bit awkward and shy with him, sure she thought that he was handsome – but she was allowed to think that of him wasn't she? It was the same as thinking Bran was adorable or that Arya was pretty. It didn't mean anything.

So then why…?

She pushed it out of her mind for the hundredth time that say and focused on the lecture instead.

Afterwards, she met Jon for a coffee as was their custom and then headed to her father's office to work for a few hours. She was a few minutes late and when walked into the building, which was really just an old house converted into offices, her father was standing there looking disapprovingly at her. "You're late."

She arched a brow. "By five minutes."

"So? You have commitments, Sansa, it's best to keep them."

She rolled her eyes.

"Leave her alone, Dad," Robb said as he came out of their father's office. He smiled at Sansa and then winked.

Sansa couldn't look at him without thinking of her dream and she looked instead back at her father. A smile was tugging the corner of his mouth and she walked up to him and swatted him on the arm playfully. "You had me going!" she scolded him.

He laughed and walked away, leaving Sansa and Robb alone. She had felt awkward with him last night to begin with, and now that she'd had this dream about him she felt even more awkward.

"Are you all right?" Robb asked. "You look a little flushed."

"Oh, uh, it's just warm outside and I just had a coffee with Jon, so—"

"Jon? Who's Jon?"

"A friend of mine from school."

"Are you…dating him? You said last night you weren't dating anyone."

She arched a brow. "Are you getting all big brother-y on me?"

He sighed. "I think I am. You mind?"

"Well…I guess not. I'm older than everyone else so I'm always the one looking out for them. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to have someone looking out for me."

Sadness passed over his features and Sansa didn't know what to make of it or what to do.

"I wanted to be here for you," he said softly. "I just couldn't be anymore."

She reached out and touched his arm. He flinched. That surprised her and she started to pull her hand away. He grabbed it and squeezed and looked down at her with those intense eyes that…

That she remembered from her dream.

Her heart started to race. She pulled her hand back. "I didn't mean anything by it," she said. "I didn't say that to make you feel guilty."

"I know," he said quietly.

"Okay, so stop looking like I just told you I drowned a puppy on the way to work."

He laughed then and Sansa relaxed. Sort of. His smile really just lit up his whole face.

"Dad has a stack of files he wanted me to give you," he said.

Sansa groaned. "Of course he does." She headed for her father's office and Robb followed her. "How was your first day?" she asked him as they walked inside and she set her backpack down on the floor. She immediately went for the desk toward the back of the room that took up most of the room and picked up the stack of files on the end of it.

"Oh, wait," Robb said and took the top two files from the top. He frowned. "Wait…"

Amused, Sansa moved so that she was standing next to him and turned the files so that they were laying across her arms and he could see the names of them. He started to look through them and Sansa caught a whiff of his cologne. He smelled good. As he peered at the files his arm kept brushing her and she was pretty sure she could feel his flexed muscle through his white button down shirt.

And why was she thinking about his muscles and how he smelled?

"Okay, got it," he said.

She smiled slightly and then left the room to file what was remaining without saying a word or even looking at him.

xxxxxxxxx

Sansa was the flame. And Robb was the moth. He couldn't stop himself from seeking her out. He found her in the breakroom, sitting at one of the tables with a bottle of water in her hand. She was sitting with someone Robb hadn't met yet. A woman with long curly hair, sharp blue eyes, and a smile that looked almost deadly. The woman jumped up, smiling at him. She was petite and wore a modest blue dress and flats. She held out her hand to him. "I'm Margaery, one of the paralegal's here. You're Robb Stark."

Robb took her hand and shook it. "I am. Nice to meet you, Margaery."

Margaery looked him up and down and smirked. "Indeed."

He looked at Sansa whose brows were arched as she watched the exchange. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. He inched toward her until he was standing behind her, his hands on the back of her seat. She shifted in her seat and he felt a jolt go through him at the feel of her hair brushing against his hands. Sometimes when he'd kissed Sansa he would wrap her hair around his hand. The softness of it, the scent – he loved her hair.

"No need to hide behind your sister, Robb Stark," Margaery said with a grin. "I don't bite. Not hard anyway."

Robb didn't know what to say. He'd been flirted with before, and he'd even flirted, but it had always been subtle. This felt a bit aggressive and he didn't really know what to do.

Sansa stood then, creating a barrier between him and Margaery. "Margaery, stop freaking him out," she scolded her friend gently.

Margaery laughed and started for the exit. "I'll see you around, handsome," she purred and left.

"Yikes," Robb said.

Sansa turned to face him. "She likes to make people uncomfortable sometimes. Kind of like testing the waters a little…? She's fun though."

"She made me feel like a piece of meat."

"Women have to deal with that crap every day. It's only fair that you men should have to deal with it as well once in a while."

"Fair enough," Robb said with a smile. "Sit with me?"

"I can't. I'm actually heading out now for a class."

Robb frowned. "At four in the afternoon?"

"Not school class – yoga class."

Robb's mind raced with all possible positions Sansa could twist herself into. It was possible he was getting hard. He sat down. "Oh? You didn't mention that last night."

She shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Just after the accident I couldn't move around so well. I was really stiff and everything hurt and someone suggested I try yoga. It worked. It made me feel better and relaxed me so I kept it up."

"That is a big deal, Sansa," he said. It hurt that he didn't know the physical pain she'd been in afterwards. And that he hadn't been there to help her. "It helped you and it's obviously something that continues to help you. I think that's amazing."

She smiled shyly. "Thanks."

"Maybe you could teach me a few moves."

"You never should have said that," she said. "Mom and Dad and – okay, everyone in our family was so tired of me showing them different positions when they'd complain about an ache or whatever. If anyone just shows a smidgeon of interest I am all over it like white on rice."

"You can show me any position you want," he told her and hoped his voice hadn't really dropped as low as it sounded to him. He was imagining Sansa's hands on him. His on her. God, he really needed to stop this.

"You asked for it!" she said, but she looked pleased.

Robb considered the idea that maybe their mother had some cause to worry about him and his intentions.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Robb walked in the house a few days later to the sound of his sisters doing what they did best: arguing.

"You saw that I was doing something, Arya, and yet you came in here and started blaring the TV!" Sansa shouted.

"The family room is for watching TV, Sansa. Do your homework in your bedroom," Arya said calmly. Robb knew Arya well enough to know that she played at calm when she just wanted to piss Sansa off.

"There is a desk in here; it's not like it's just a family room meant for watching TV. I've seen you do homework in here."

"You've seen me do homework I don't _care_ about in here," Arya said matter-of-factly.

"God, you're such a bitch."

Oh, that was not good. Arya was going to flay Sansa alive. Robb practically ran to the family room just in time to see Arya start after Sansa. Sansa stood her ground. She didn't move. She just stood there and waited. Robb remembered a time when Sansa would come at Arya, ready to defend herself by flailing her arms and fists about.

Now she stood with her hands on her hips almost looking as though she dared Arya to hit her. Arya stopped in front of her sister and they stared each other down. Robb wasn't sure if he should intervene or just see how this shook out.

Arya took a step back and Robb inwardly sighed with relief. Arya turned and saw him standing there. "Robb, tell me what you think. Is it fair that I should have to wait until Sansa is done with her homework before I turn the TV on?" she asked. "Or should Sansa go somewhere else if she expects peace and quiet while she's doing her homework?"

"You have a TV in your room, don't you?" he asked pointedly with one brow arched.

Arya growled and threw up her arms. "Nothing has changed, has it? You still take Sansa's side in everything!" she shouted and marched off, pounding the floor hard as she stomped up the stairs. Robb winced when he heard her door slam.

Sansa just rolled her eyes and picked her laptop up off the couch. "I cannot even with her," she muttered. She looked at Robb, laptop in hand. "Is that true?"

"Is what true?" he asked and stepped fully into the room.

"Did you always take my side in everything?"

He laughed softly and shook his head. "No. And you would get pretty mad at me when I took her side."

"Everyone takes her side," Sansa muttered. "She's the favorite."

"Why would you say that?"

She sighed. "I don't know. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"I'm just cranky today. I didn't sleep well last night."

He shoved his hands in his pockets. He was no stranger to sleepless nights. He hadn't slept well at all since he'd been home. The night before he'd almost convinced himself he could just go to Sansa's room and have a chat with her before going back to bed. Not knowing exactly what to say and fear of his mother catching him kept him from leaving the basement.

"What's on your mind?" he asked gently.

She looked at him sharply and Robb held his breath for a second. It felt very much as though she was saying _"You"_ with that look. But then her gaze skittered away and she shook her head. "Nothing. Just school and…school."

He wasn't buying it, but they weren't yet at the point where he could push it. Sansa was still quiet and uncertain around him. "Why don't we go somewhere?" he suggested. He hoped she said yes. And he hoped she agreed so they could leave before their parents returned home. Their mother was diligent about making sure he and Sansa were never left alone in the house together. No doubt she knew Arya was home right now and so felt she didn't have to rush right home from work to baby-sit them. What, Robb wondered, was she going to do when he got his own place and Sansa (hopefully) wanted to visit? Forbid her? Sansa would wonder why. So would Arya and his brothers.

"Where?" Sansa asked.

"Anywhere you want."

"Could we go to a movie? I want to get lost in a movie."

"Sure, we can do that," he told her.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Sitting side by side in the movie theater, Robb watched the couples on dates around them and felt himself glaring at the lot of them._

 _"_ _Stop giving the stink eye to everyone around us," Sansa said and poked him in the leg. "What's wrong with you?"_

 _"_ _It's not fair," he said quietly._

 _"_ _What isn't?"_

 _"_ _Everyone here gets to be honest about what they're doing. They get to show how they feel to the people they're with. I can't even hold your hand." Even sitting in the way back tucked into the corner and with no one else in their aisle didn't guarantee privacy._

 _"_ _I know," she said softly. Now she looked sad._

 _"_ _I just want to be able to hold your fucking hand."_

 _"_ _One day," she told him. She nudged him with her elbow. "Right?"_

 _He forced himself to smile. "Right."_

 _"_ _You forgot something, Robb."_

 _"_ _What's that, love?" he asked and looked over at her._

 _She smiled. "We're seeing a horror movie. No one would think twice if I got scared and needed my big brother to protect me."_

 _He smiled for real then. "Of course."_

 ** _End Flashback_**

xxxxxxxx

Sansa wasn't sure why she thought hanging out with Robb was a good idea. On the other hand he was her brother so why shouldn't she hang out with him? Yet it was because of him and her unruly subconscious that she hadn't been able to sleep so well the night before.

She was a mess.

The night before she'd dreamt that her and Robb were just hanging out, watching a movie in his room. All they'd done was sit by side-by-side and held hands. Okay, so that was weird. And he would kiss her temple every so often, too. Also weird. However, it was the feeling she had in the dream. The feeling of loving him so much and _feeling_ loved. Those feelings had been so strong that when she'd woken up, she'd ached with the loss of it. She'd never been in love – not that she remembered anyway – and so to feel that love and to feel it coming from someone else had made her feel…restless.

Despite knowing how wrong it was to dream of her brother like that, she had wanted to get back to sleep and jump right back in that dream just to feel that love again. But she hadn't been able to get back to sleep right away because she kept replaying the dream over and over in her mind and wondering what was wrong with her that it was her brother she was dreaming of in such a way.

By morning she'd convinced herself that what she was probably craving was a boyfriend. She didn't remember having one, certainly didn't remember Joffrey (and thank God apparently), and so it wasn't as though she had anything negative attached to having one. Granted, Joffrey had been the reason she and Robb had gotten in that car accident, but she didn't remember him or it enough to feel the need to swear off men.

As for why she'd latched onto Robb? Well, she chalked it up to the fact that he was…shiny and new? She didn't really know. Perhaps it was because Margaery hadn't stopped talking about him since she'd met him. She really had no reason for it;' she just wished her subconscious would give it a rest.

Now they sat together in a darkened theater and she didn't feel relaxed. She felt hyper-aware of him sitting next to her, and she had the urge to just touch him in some way. She almost felt like it wasn't just that she wanted to do it, but that she needed to do it. Like touching him, just even his arm, meant she wouldn't float away or something.

Christ, yeah. She should look into dating.

"We were close, weren't we?" Sansa asked him after the movie was over and they were making their way back home.

Robb tensed, his hand gripped the steering wheel tighter before answering her. Odd, that. "Yes," he said.

"Why does that upset you?" she asked.

"It doesn't upset you."

"It seems to upset you."

He sighed. "You don't remember me now. It's hard to…it's hard to remember how close we were when you don't remember it and we don't have the same closeness."

"I'm sorry," she said and felt her eyes well up in tears. She didn't even know why this was upsetting her so much. She didn't get this frustrated not remembering things when it came to the rest of her family.

He darted a glance at her. "Sansa, are you – are you crying?"

"I'm overtired. I get emotional when I'm overtired."

"I know," he said and then hit the steering wheel. "Shit, I'm sorry. That probably doesn't help." He pulled over to the side of the road and cut the engine. He turned in his seat and looked at her. "Sansa, please don't cry. I could never stand it when you cried."

"It's just frustrating, and I'm just tired…I'm fine, Robb. Really."

"What can I do?"

"Nothing. You can't make me remember. _I_ can't make me remember."

"Do you feel pressured to…?"

"A little. I mean I just feel like…I feel like we were probably close. It's just this…feeling I get?"

He looked almost wistful. "You told me everything."

"I don't know that I tell anyone everything. Not even Jon and he's the closest one to me."

"You can always come to me, Sansa. I want you to know that." And then he took her hands in his and gripped them.

His touch comforted her. Made her feel…whole in some way. She gripped him back and stared down at their hands.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," she murmured and looked up at him. He was watching her so intently. "I don't know," she repeated and pulled her hands from his.

He nodded and turned back around. They rode the rest of the way home in silence.

xxxxxxxx

 ** _Flashback_**

 _"_ _Love, what's wrong?" Robb asked gently as he shut Sansa's door behind him and then lay down beside her on the bed. She was on her side, facing away from him, and he could hear her sniffling._

 _"_ _You always take Arya's side," she said._

 _"_ _I do not," he said and pressed himself against her back. She stiffened and scooted away from him._

 _"_ _Sansa, love…" he murmured and pulled her back against him._

 _"_ _She's your favorite."_

 _He barked out a laugh. "Now I think you know_ that's _not true." He pushed his nose against her bare shoulder and then kissed her there. "You're my favorite person in the whole world."_

 _"_ _Yeah, because I have sex with you."_

 _Robb gripped her hip. "Sansa, don't you dare say that to me," he said sternly. "You know that's not true." He rolled away from her and got up. He went to the door and was about to leave when he heard Sansa say his name softly._

 _He turned and found her sitting up, her eyes a bit red. She looked apologetic. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean that."_

 _"_ _Then why did you say it?"_

 _"_ _Because I was upset that you defended Arya and I wanted to hurt you."_

 _"_ _Not like that," he said. "Never like that, Sansa. You make it…you make it something dirty and wrong when you say that. Like I'm using you."_

 _"_ _I know you're not, Robb. I'm sorry." She held out her hand. "Come here."_

 _He shook his head and said, "No", and then he left._

 _Later when Sansa came to apologize to him again, he forgave her. But he wouldn't make love to her, even though she attempted to initiate it._

 ** _End Flashback_**

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable with the idea of you and Sansa spending so much time together."

Robb looked up from the book he wasn't reading and at his mother. "Excuse me?" He put the book down on the bed beside him.

"You and Sansa going to the movies…is that where you really went?"

Robb clenched his jaw. "You do recall that she doesn't remember anything about me still, right?"

She sighed. His mother looked a bit stressed. "I know. I just fear that if you two start spending more time together she will."

Robb opted not to tell her about his conversation with Sansa in the car. He wasn't going to push for Sansa to remember, but if she did…well, he wasn't going to stop that from happening.

"Are you going to ban her from spending time with me? I am her brother—"

"I'm not sure you can play the brother card, Robb. You lost that privilege when you came clean about what you and Sansa had been doing behind our backs."

"Don't make it sound like that. Like what we were doing was just dirty—"

"You're her brother," she hissed. "It _was—is—_ dirty."

"I loved her."

"It was your job as her big brother to protect her, Robb!"

"And I did. I didn't _rape_ her, Mother. We loved each other."

"Robb, are you listening to yourself? You can't possibly believe that you were in love with your sister the way a man loves a woman. It's not possible!"

"It is possible because that's exactly how I felt! I loved her as a woman she loved me as a man." He would give himself away now if he didn't stop. He was aware that he sounded like a petulant brat, but he knew what he felt – what he _still_ felt – for Sansa. Maybe it was wrong to everyone else, but it wasn't wrong to him, and it hadn't been wrong to Sansa at the time. It was isolating to be nursing this very real, very broken heart, and have his mother tell him that it wasn't real at all because she thought it wrong. Coupled with that was the fact that Sansa didn't remember them and… _God_. He was going stark raving mad.

"What do you want from me, Mother?" he asked, his voice soft and low. "What is it you want me to do?"

"I want you to give your sister a wide berth, and maybe if you would consider finding a girl of your own...Your father says there is a woman in his office that seems to have taken a shine to you."

Robb sighed. "So you want me to date to prove to you that nothing is going on with me and Sansa."

His mother sat down next to him on the bed. "And to help you, Robb. If you date this girl and you end up really liking her you'll see how different it is. I should have encouraged you when you were younger to find a nice girl. I never thought your lack of interest meant…" she sighed. "Just think about it, would you?"

Robb nodded. "Sure." By think about it she of course meant do it. Ask Margaery out. Date her.

She kissed the top of his head and hugged him. "I love you, Robb. I want you to be happy. You know that, right?"

Robb nodded and feigned a smile. "I know, Mom."

She left the room and Robb cried his own tears of frustration.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"You want a boyfriend?" Jon asked Sansa the following morning while they had their morning coffee before classes. Sansa made a face and Jon laughed. "So that's a no…"

"I don't want a boyfriend per se, but it doesn't really work that way anyway," she explained and stretched her arms out on the table in front of her. They were in the commuter café together and Sansa was not yet awake.

She'd had another dream about Robb. This time they'd been kissing behind the house. He told her he loved her in the dream. Sansa had woken up confused and aching again.

"I just want to be open to the possibility," she said.

He grinned. "If you want to be open to the possibility, Sansa, you might not want to make stinky cheese face when someone says the word boyfriend."

She sighed. "I don't know why I'm so averse to the idea. It's not like I even remember having one."

"Maybe subconsciously you do."

If that was the case then based on her dreams Robb had been her boyfriend. And no…

She shrugged. "So, do you know any nice single guys?"

He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. He put his coffee down on the table and heaved a deep breath. Sansa watched him expectantly. She knew Jon well enough to know he was working up to something. His cheeks grew pink and he raked some of his curly locks back. He looked at her. "Me. What about me?"

She hadn't expected that. At all.

"See, the thing is, Sansa, I have thought about it. Dating you, that is. And I'd…I'd really like to try." He was so nervous and it was so adorable and Sansa couldn't stand it. His gray eyes met hers. "Do you think maybe you might consider it…?"

She broke into a slow smile. "Yes."

"You'll consider it, or…?"

"I just considered it. And yes, I will. Go on a date with you, I mean. When?"

Jon broke into a smile that Sansa had only been able to pull from him a handful of times. Each one was a gift when it happened. She smiled back at him. Date her best friend? Of course.

"How about tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Perfect."

xxxxxxxx

When Sansa arrived at the office that afternoon she felt better. She'd made a step in the right direction towards getting past this…whatever it was with Robb. In some ways, Jon and Robb were alike, so maybe her subconscious was just playing games with her? Maybe it was really Jon she wanted this whole time…?

She made her way to her father's office and found Robb in there, alone, and bent over some paperwork. "Hey." He looked up and he smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "You okay?"

He cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just looking for a specific piece of correspondence for one of Dad's depositions and I'm having hard time finding it. I've pulled all the files."

She put her hand on her hips and lifted her chin. "Have no fear Sansa is here!"

He laughed and she sat down at her father's desk. "Hit me. With a file that is."

He handed one over to her and told her what to look for. As she set to work, she began to hum to herself.

"You're in a good mood today," Robb said, looking up at her.

Her mouth quirked a bit into a lopsided grin. "I have a date tomorrow night."

"You have a date tomorrow night?"

Sansa nodded and began to hum again as she turned more papers.

"Sansa."

She looked up at him. He didn't look happy. His jaw was clenched tight. "Who do you have a date with?"

"Jon. Can you believe it, I can—"

"You said that you and this Jon were just friends."

"We are…were? I asked him if he knew any nice single guys and he offered himself."

"So, he's had a thing for you this whole time."

"I suppose so—"

"I don't know how I feel about you going out with someone that hasn't been honest with you."

Sansa stared at him. "What? Jon is – no. Jon is like the most honest guy I know. He's like…a puppy. A complete sweetheart. He doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body."

"Sansa—"

"Little dove! You're here!" Margaery exclaimed as she came inside the room. She put her hand on Robb's shoulder. "Did your brother tell you I finally wore him down? We're going out tomorrow night."

Sansa was not prepared for the stab of jealousy she felt. It was absurd. And disturbing. So, she forced herself to smile broadly. "Congratulations?" She looked at Margaery. "Is that the appropriate response?"

"It'll do, little dove," Margaery said with a broad smile of her own. She ruffled Robb's hair. "Come see me later." And then she was off again.

Sansa looked at him with arched brow and leaned forward, her elbow on the desk and her chin in the palm of her hand. "Well, well. And you seemed so afraid of her."

Robb sighed. "I still am."

"Maybe you're a bit of a sadist then? Or is it masochist?"

"Sansa, I want to meet Jon. Tomorrow night before you go out with him, I want to meet him."

She frowned and sat back. "This is you being big brother-y?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"But you're going out with Margaery. What if Jon comes after you're gone?"

He sighed as if willing himself to have patience. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

"It's not that important that you meet him, Robb. Mom and Dad have already."

"I don't care."

"Robb—"

"Sansa, the last boyfriend you had ran us into a tree. You called me, hysterical, because he hit you and was aiming to do more. You were in a coma for three days and none of us knew if you were going to make it out. But then you did. You came back to me – _us_ – you came back to _us_. Joffrey had Mom and Dad fooled. He had you fooled. He had us all fooled. Can you maybe understand why I want to meet him?"

"Well, God, when you put it like that…" she muttered.

"Thank you."

"I don't remember Joffrey, but I'd like to think that I wouldn't make that same choice again. I've done a lot of reading up on abusive relationships and it doesn't make sense that I would choose someone like that."

Robb looked down. He looked sad and…guilty?

"He hid his true colors well," Robb said. "We were all fooled."

Sansa frowned. "You don't blame yourself, do you?"

Robb looked at her. "Yes. I do."

"Well, that's just ridiculous. It wasn't your fault. I'm sure you did your big brother job then well enough too."

He didn't say anything, and he looked down again.

Sansa got up and made her way over to him. She knelt down before him and gingerly placed her hand on his knee. He looked at her hand and then at her. "Robb, don't blame yourself for what happened. I don't. And even if I remembered everything perfectly I'm sure I still wouldn't. I made the choice to date him."

He nodded, but he didn't look convinced. "Thank you," he murmured.

"If it's that important to you to meet Jon then we'll work something out, okay?"

He nodded again. She stood, kissed his cheek, and then went back to the files.

xxxxxxx

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Sansa was doing her homework one night when Robb slipped in and said, "Has Mom talked to you?"_

 _She blinked at him. "Um, no. Why? Should she have?"_

 _"_ _She talked to me this afternoon when I got home from work."_

 _"…_ _Yeah?"_

 _He sat down and ran his hand through his hair. His curls bounced and flopped about and Sansa scooted closer to him and attempted to fix his hair. He moved away from her by standing up and walking away from her. He couldn't mess around with her right now. He had to focus._

 _"_ _Robb, what's going on?" she asked. She sounded a bit worried now._

 _"_ _She told me that she saw us last night watching TV when she got up to get a drink in the kitchen," Robb said and started to pace. "She said she noticed something between us."_

 _"_ _Oh no, not that!" Sansa faux gasped._

 _He stopped and looked at her. "Sansa, she said that there was an intimacy between us that made her uncomfortable. She said that it's not the first time she's noticed it and just chalked it up to us being close, but after she saw how we were together she can't ignore it anymore."_

 _"Robb—"_

 _"_ _Sansa, she asked me point blank if there was something going on between us. She couldn't even get the words out…"_

 _Sansa went over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "What did you tell her?" she asked. She was all business Sansa now. Her expression serious, her posture straight._

 _"_ _I told her that I don't know what she thought she saw but she was mistaken," he told her. "I told her I would never do anything like that with you and of course you never would with me. I told her I couldn't believe she would even suggest that."_

 _"_ _And?"_

 _"_ _I'm not sure she bought it. Sansa, I'm a little worried."_

 _She arched a brow. "A little?"_

 _"_ _How can you not be?" he demanded. "If Mom and Dad find out about us they could separate us, Sansa. They could make me go away. Do you want that?"_

 _"_ _Of course not," she said and wound her arms around him. Robb wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him. "I love you," she said into his neck_

 _"_ _We need to lay low," he told her softly. "We need to keep our distance. We can't give her any reason to suspect." She grew silent and that worried Robb. "Sansa, are you listening to me?"_

 _She pulled back and looked up at him. "I'll get a boyfriend."_

 _He gaped at her. "What?"_

 _"_ _There's a boy at school that asked me out a couple times—"_

 _"_ _How am I just hearing about this now?" he demanded._

 _She rolled her eyes. "Really, Robb? Now's not the time—"_

 _"_ _Who is he?"_

 _"_ _His name is Joffrey. He's some popular rich boy. He seems nice."_

 _Robb didn't like this. Not at all._

 _"_ _Look, I'll just go out with him a few times. No big deal. Mom will stop worrying—"_

 _"_ _Or maybe we should do nothing and go on as we have. If you all of a sudden get a boyfriend she might think we're actually guilty."_

 _"_ _How about this – how about we do nothing for a while and then in a couple weeks I'll tell Joffrey I'll go out with him. I'll play it off like it's no big deal and I'm not really sure it's what I want to do and Mom will do her Mom thing where she talks to me about it, maybe even convinces me it's a good idea, and then that's it. It's done. After a couple dates I'll stop seeing him. Ba da bing, ba da boom, it's done."_

 _"_ _Why can't I just go out with some girl? Jeyne at work flirts with me all the time," Robb said._

 _"_ _Nope, I'm going to go out with Joffrey. It's decided," Sansa said and turned away from him. "You don't want me to boil any bunnies in a fit of jealousy do you, Robb?" she asked over her shoulder as she made her way back to the bed._

 _He was on her in two strides, pulling her by her hips against him and biting at her neck playfully. She slapped a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't laugh out loud._

 _"_ _I love you," he whispered in her ear. "I love you so much."_

 _She spun around in his arms and narrowed her eyes. "This Jeyne…do you flirt back?"_

 _He furrowed his brow. "What?"_

 _"You said this woman Jeyne flirts with you. Do you flirt back?"_

 _His laugh was low and easy. "God, Sansa, how could you even be jealous? Don't you know by now that you are my entire world?"_

 _She smiled and kissed him quickly before just hugging him. "And you, dear brother, have nothing to worry about when it comes to Joffrey."_

 ** _End Flashback_**

 _Famous last words_ , Robb thought.

He hadn't protected her. Not the way he should have. He should have asked Jeyne out and been done with it. He never should have let Sansa be the one to fix things with their mother. Sometimes he wondered if he would ever be able to forgive himself for that. And the thing was, he couldn't tell her how sorry he was. He couldn't do anything about it at all except pretend that none of it ever happened.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Flashback_**

 _Robb slipped into Sansa's bed and curled up around her. "Mom said you weren't feeling well," he murmured._

 _"_ _What are you doing here?" she croaked. "Don't you have work?"_

 _"_ _I called out."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"_ _To take care of you."_

 _She didn't say anything and he wondered if whatever was bothering her was more than just not feeling well. He'd noticed the night before she'd been quiet and hadn't been herself. She would tell him what was wrong at some point; she usually did. And he knew better than to push. Until that time, he was more than happy to lay here with her and just hold her._

 _Sometimes he wondered that she thought he expected sex from her all the time. He didn't. Not that he didn't love making love with Sansa, but it wasn't what their relationship was about. Not to him anyway, and he certainly hoped it wasn't about that for her. He doubted it though. He knew Sansa loved him. Out of the two of them, she had realized her feelings later than he did and though she'd had reservations in the beginning, she didn't seem to have wrestled with them as much as he had._

 _He and Sansa had always been close growing up. He wasn't sure what it was exactly – the fact that they were the two eldest and the rest of their siblings had looked to them for guidance, if it was that he had been her big brother first and it had been instilled in him from the time his parents told him he was going to be a big brother that he had to look out for his sister. He didn't know. He wished he knew why he and Sansa had always felt so separate from the rest of the Stark clan. Why they seemed to have their own language. How they seemed to have an almost telepathic connection at times. He had analyzed it to death, hoping and wishing that if he could explain it then maybe he could just accept it for what it was and not as something more. And maybe he could know what to look for so he could duplicate it with someone else_

 _Someone that was not his sister._

 _It wasn't as though he hadn't tried. When he first realized he had feelings that were more than brotherly for Sansa – which was about the time he was a junior in high school and she a freshman – he had become something of a man whore. He dated a lot. He slept around. He was desperate to find that girl that would replace Sansa in his affections. To find that girl that he wanted and craved and loved as he did her. It wasn't meant to be._

 _He'd come home with some other girls perfume on him and feel empty and lost until he could curl up with Sansa on the couch and watch some stupid movie with her. Or go to the park and push her on the swings while she told him all about the gossip in ninth grade…then tenth…and then he learned he wasn't alone in his feelings._

 _He stopped dating when he started his senior year. He was tired of it. Tired of trying. He loved and wanted his sister and that, it seemed, was that. He couldn't fight it, so he thought he might as well just give himself up to it and maybe it would just ride itself out. He remembered his mother asking him why he didn't go out so much anymore. He had always been popular but now he seemed to rather stay home than go out. He just told her was tired of high school crap._

 _The first time he and Sansa had kissed things went - depending on how one looked at it –uphill or downhill from there. For Robb, it was uphill. He thought it was the same for Sansa, but sometimes he worried. He doubted. She wasn't as needy as he felt he was sometimes._

 _He sometimes felt guilty for having been the one to take her virginity. But she had wanted him to be the first and after so long of denying himself what he really wanted, Robb just couldn't do it anymore. She'd been sixteen. He'd been eighteen. It wasn't as if they had sex immediately after discovering they felt the same about each other. They'd spent a lot of time talking about what this meant. About the family. How they had to keep it a secret (obviously). How it would affect their relationships. Sansa couldn't be telling her girlfriends everything anymore, for one._

 _She wondered why this had happened. He told her how he'd wondered the same thing and didn't have any answers._

 _Their first touches had been tentative and yet so fucking heady and exhilarating. It was like something out of a movie – they couldn't get enough of each other. He took comfort in the fact that he was the first thing on her mind in the morning and the last thing on her mind at night. Just as it had been for him with her for so long._

 _He still remembered their first time. The rest of the Starks had gone out to a dinner and movie but Sansa and Robb had begged off. Robb explored her and she explored him. When he was inside her for the first time it had felt like coming home. He knew then that he wouldn't be going away to college right away. He had already begun to plan how they would go away together. He told his parents he wanted to take some time off just to save some money and figure out what he really wanted to do. They told him he'd known what he wanted to do since he was ten. He ignored them._

 _"_ _Robb," she said, breaking the silence._

 _"_ _Hmm?"_

 _"_ _Do you ever think about kids? About having a family?"_

 _He stilled. Their mother had said she wasn't feeling well… "Sansa, are you—"_

 _"_ _No. I, well, I took two tests yesterday in the bathroom at Target."_

 _"_ _Why didn't you tell me about this last night?"_

 _"_ _I'm telling you now."_

 _He sighed. "Sansa."_

 _"_ _I'm not pregnant, Robb. Relax."_

 _"_ _I just wish you had told me you thought there might even be the possibility."_

 _"_ _So you could what? Hang outside the bathroom and wait with me?"_

 _He clenched his jaw. He hated that this is what they had to do. That they had to hide and sneak and be inventive in how they could spend time together. "Yes," he said curtly._

 _"_ _The chances were slim. I'm on birth control, you always wear a condom…"_

 _"_ _Those aren't one hundred percent."_

 _"_ _With both methods it's pretty fucking close."_

 _He sighed. "Do you think you should see a doctor?"_

 _"_ _No. I'm not pregnant. Trust me. I just got my period this morning."_

 _That was a relief._

 _"_ _But it got me thinking," she said._

 _"_ _Yeah?"_

 _"_ _We can't have kids together, Robb. You know that, right?"_

 _"_ _Yes, I do. That doesn't bother me."_

 _"_ _No, it doesn't now. You're only twenty. But what about one day? Do you think about one day?"_

 _He did. He thought about one day when they were in Europe and away from their family and he could be her boyfriend and she his girlfriend. Maybe they couldn't marry. Maybe they couldn't have kids but they could find a way to be together._

 _"_ _Do you want kids, Sansa?" he asked._

 _"_ _Sometimes I think I might. Sometimes I think I don't. I don't know yet. I'm only eighteen."_

 _"_ _We could always adopt."_

 _"_ _Don't men want to like, I don't know, spread their seed all over the place and make a bunch of kids?"_

 _He laughed softly. "You make me sound like a dandelion."_

 _She laughed softly._

 _"_ _How about we cross the kids bridge when we get to it?"_

 _She sighed._

 _He poked her lightly. "Talk to me."_

 _"_ _It's just – don't you – don't you wish it was easier? That it would go away?"_

 _That scared him. He held her tighter. "No."_

 _"No? Seriously?"_

 _He sighed this time. "I wish it was easier. I sometimes wish, yes, that it wasn't you, but I can't…I can no more stop it than I can stop the sun from rising tomorrow, Sansa. I don't see the point in wishing away something that just is."_

 _She fell silent again._

 _He swallowed hard. "Do you want to…do you want to stop?"_

 _She turned in his arms and looked at him. She shook her head. "No. I just wish you weren't my brother."_

 _He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Amen, sister."_

 ** _End Flashback_**

Robb sighed and shrugged off the memory as he stepped into the kitchen where he found Sansa pouring a shot of vodka. He laughed. "What the hell are you doing?"

She looked at him sheepishly. "I'm kind of nervous. So I'm taking a shot to relax my nerves."

He sighed and gestured to her. "Pour me one?"

She smiled. "Sure." As she turned to get him a shot glass he got a gander at what she was wearing. She was wearing flats, leggings, a skirt over the leggings and a top that showed her bare shoulder and a fashion scarf. She wore her hair down and not pulled back. Just the way he liked it.

"You look really nice," he said.

She glanced at him as she poured his shot. "So do you."

He shrugged. He hadn't put too much thought into his attire. He was wearing jeans, a blue button down and a suit jacket. "So, what can I expect from Margaery?" he asked.

"The unexpected. Always."

"Great," he muttered.

"Robb, you did ask her out, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Then why have you been acting like you don't want to go out with her when you, as we established, asked her out?"

 _Because I am only going out with her to please our Mother, Sansa. I don't want to go out with Margaery or anyone else at all._ "I don't know," he said.

"You're weird. Okay, ready?"

He stood across the island from her and took his shot glass in hand. He smiled. "One, two—"

And then she knocked it back. She promptly hunched over, clutching her middle. "Ack! Oh God, that burns. That fucking burns!"

Robb downed his own shot and winced. It did burn. But he didn't mind it so much. He watched in amusement as she went for the fridge and pulled out one of Arya's cans of Sunkist and opened it. She sipped it quickly and then stuck out her tongue and shivered. "Yuck."

"Why are you nervous anyway?" Robb asked and picked up their shot glasses. He went over to the sink and placed them inside. "You and Jon are friends."

"Yeah, but I've never been on a date with him before. I don't remember dating at all. I don't remember kissing, I don't remember flirting. I don't know if I've…well, anyway. So, um, what are you and Margaery doing?"

It took Rob a minute to switch gears. She didn't know if she was a virgin. As her brother he couldn't tell her that no, she wasn't. He wasn't supposed to comment on it at all. "Uh, we're going to a drive-in. What are you and Jon doing?"

There was a knock on the door then and Sansa jumped. Paled. And then hurried to the door, ran her fingers through her hair, and then opened the door and smiled. "Hi, Jon."

And so Robb got the first look at the guy that was taking his Sansa out.


	7. Chapter 7

Jon was a few inches shorter than Sansa. He had shoulder length curly hair and a beard. Should he dwell on the fact that he himself had curly hair (though not long like Jon's), and a beard as well?

Probably not.

Robb rather felt that Sansa was apt in describing Jon as a "puppy". He was soft spoken and he looked at Sansa as with a reverence in his eyes that made Robb envious (and jealous). Robb had always had to watch how he looked at Sansa. No lingering looks, no trace of tenderness that went beyond how a brother might look at his sister. He couldn't pay any more attention to her than his other siblings when they were all in the house together.

Jon had a firm grip when Robb shook his hand. Under different circumstances, Robb thought he might like Jon. He certainly didn't give Robb the sense that there was something lurking under that gentle exterior like Joffrey had. If only Robb had followed his instincts then instead of being caught up in his jealousy over Sansa going out with someone else then he and Sansa would probably be overseas by now, living the life they'd imagined for themselves.

He didn't think he had cause to worry about Sansa's safety with Jon, but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mind from wondering if Jon would kiss her and touch her – and if Sansa would like his kisses and touches. So, while he might in other circumstances like Jon, he actually hated him. Jon got to do all the things that were now denied Robb, and he hated every man, every woman, and every goddamn couple that got to be open about how they felt.

Not for the first time Robb wondered if he was headed for a mental breakdown. He also wondered what in the hell was wrong with him that he had wanted to come home.

"Have fun tonight," Sansa said and kissed his cheek before heading out with Jon. Oh yes, he thought as his cheek tingled from that brief contact and her perfume filled his nose. That was why he'd come home.

xxxxxxxx

"So, I'm really nervous," Sansa said once they were in Jon's blue Toyota Camry. "I took a shot of vodka before you showed up."

Jon laughed as he turned on the car and pulled out into traffic. "Really?"

She nodded and dug into her purse for Altoids. She opened the tin and offered him one. He took one and then Sansa did. She wondered if Jon would kiss her tonight. If he did, she sure hoped she didn't suck at it.

She didn't know how pre-accident Sansa kissed. She didn't know if there were others before Joffrey. She didn't know if she'd been felt up, didn't know if someone had ever touched her _down there_ , and she certainly had no idea if she'd ever had sex.

She'd asked her old high school friends sometime after the accident but they hadn't known how far she'd gone with Joffrey, and according to them she hadn't really dated anyone before him. They said she kissed some guy during a high school dance freshman year, and they clearly remembered Robb breaking it up and threatening the guy's life if he saw the guy's hands even "an inch near her ass".

Sansa certainly hoped she hadn't had sex with Joffrey. What a terrible person to waste her first time with. She wondered if Jon had been right. If her aversion to dating all stemmed from her subconscious knowing what a disaster it had been. It was odd to her that Joffrey had been responsible for the accident she and Robb had been in, but she didn't feel the same kind of anger and betrayal that the rest of her family did. To her he was the same as any random stranger that hit someone while drinking and driving. Sure, he was an asshole for doing it and she was pissed that because of him she didn't remember much, but she felt none of the betrayal when her parents had lamented that they thought he'd been such a nice boy. She didn't feel like the victim of abuse, and it didn't make any sense to her that she had been.

In all she'd read about victims of domestic abuse, she just didn't fit the description. But then, perhaps pre-accident Sansa had been a hot mess that had attracted the abuser in Joffrey. It might explain why she now had so many walls up when it came to guys and making friends. Jon had slipped in, but for the most part she preferred to be alone. It was probably also because after her accident she hadn't remembered her friends and they'd been gone off to college before she could even get to know them again.

"Does it help to know that I'm nervous, too?" Jon asked her.

She smiled at him. "It does. So, where are we going?"

"I thought we could go to dinner and then just have a drink and talk?"

"We talk all the time."

In her head she heard Robb say, _"Do you think I bring you here just to make love to you?"_

Sansa's brow furrowed. Where had that come from? She thought she hadn't dreamt last night. Was it possible she had and just didn't remember it? That had to be it.

God. Had she been dreaming about her and Robb having _sex_?

What the fuck was _wrong_ with her?

"Sansa? You okay?" Jon asked. "You look upset."

"Just remembering a bit of a dream I had last night," she muttered.

"A dream or a nightmare?"

Sansa didn't know how to answer that.

xxxxxxx

Sansa had told Robb to expect the unexpected with Margaery, but he would never have thought she'd go down on him in the car during the second movie. The evening preceding that hadn't been horrible even if he wasn't into it. Margaery had a sense of humor he liked and she could carry a conversation well enough. He almost felt sorry for her. She was trying and he wasn't because he didn't care.

He wondered if she knew on some level that he didn't and so going down on him was some last ditch effort on her part. He'd been slow to react because he couldn't believe she was actually going for it. Before he could stop her, she had him exposed and her mouth was on him.

His body betrayed him. How could it not? He hadn't had sex in a long time and with being around Sansa again…

In California when he'd dated and slept with women, he told himself it was to fix his life. To move on past his obsession with Sansa and allow them to both have a normal life. He hadn't been cheating on her, he had been helping her – helping them both – by attempting to get over her.

Now though, being back home with Sansa _right there_ (and yet so fucking far away from him), he felt as though he was cheating on her. If she knew what would she say? What would she feel?

 _She's your sister; she wouldn't care. She might even think it's gross,_ the traitorous voice in his head said.

His hand found its way to Margaery's soft locks and he gripped her hair lightly, shut his eyes, and pretended it was Sansa sucking him off to completion.

When his orgasm came, Robb had to stop himself from gasping his sister's name.

xxxxxxxx

Jon walked her to the door which Sansa thought was just the sweetest thing ever. She thought that was something most guys didn't do based on the things she heard in school from other girls complaining about their dates and boyfriends. She should have known that Jon would do something so gentlemanly and sweet.

She felt a bit loose from the drinks she'd had after dinner and so she was ready for Jon to kiss her if he planned on it. She wet her lips with her tongue and faced him demurely. "I had a really good time tonight, Jon," she told him. "But I always have a good time with you so that's not surprising."

He smiled, and she was gratified to find that he looked a bit nervous. Good. That meant he would try to kiss her. She really just wanted to get this first kiss post-accident out of the way…

"I did, too," he said. "Do you think we could do it again?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Sansa, can I kiss you?"

She broke into wide smile and was thankful for the Altoids they'd sucked on, on the way home. "Yes."

He leaned in and –

And the fucking door opened behind them and the outside light turned on.

They both looked to see who had done it. Sansa expected Arya because it would be just like her sister to have impeccable timing.

It was Robb.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say _Are you fucking kidding me?_ but she didn't _._ She was about to tell Robb to go away when Jon said, "Well, I guess I will see you later then, Sansa." He kissed her cheek, bid Robb goodnight, and was off.

Furious, Sansa pushed her way in the house, shut the door, and glared at her brother. "What. The actual. Fuck?"

"What?" He looked almost innocent, but there was something in his eyes that told her he had definitely timed that interruption perfectly.

"Robb, I was – Jon was—grrr." She started for her bedroom.

"Sansa, what the hell? Why are you so pissed at me for?"

She turned around and faced him. "You know why," she hissed. "You purposely just interrupted my first kiss."

He laughed. He actually fucking _laughed_. It was a dark kind of laugh because there was something dark about him right now. Almost dangerous. "Your _first_ kiss? You've had kisses before tonight, Sansa."

"I told you I don't remember them," she snapped. "See, there's two Sansa's, Robb. There's pre-accident Sansa that I don't remember, and quite frankly I sometimes think that's best considering pre-accident Sansa made poor choices and went out with someone like Joffrey—"

"She didn't always make terrible choices," he said and started walking towards her. "She made some pretty good ones I think."

She ignored him "—then there's me now. Post-accident Sansa. She got a do-over thanks to pre-accident Sansa. Things like kissing and dating and boyfriends and relationships – they're new to me."

He moved into her space, crowding her, filling her nose with the scent of cologne and traces of Margaery's perfume. Also, she thought she might smell alcohol on him. She pushed at his chest, attempting to gain some space. She didn't understand why he was crowding her so. His hands curled around hers on his chest and he backed her up to the wall.

She was so stunned by his actions she couldn't even think straight enough to form words.

"You want to know about kissing, Sansa?" he said, his voice low. "I can tell you about kissing."

 _He wants to show you,_ the voice in her head said.

Her gaze dropped to his lips and she felt the air change to something even more charged. It scared her. She shoved him away and he stumbled back, eyes wide.

"You've been drinking," she observed.

"I had a few shots."

She wanted to ask if his date went well and he'd been celebrating, or if it had gone very wrong and he needed the shots to take the edge off.

She was also aware that she needed to get away from him. That charge in the air…it was making her heart race so fast she thought it might race right out of her chest. "Goodnight, Robb," she said and quickly ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

After she'd changed, washed her face, and brushed her teeth, Sansa lay in bed trying to conjure up what a kiss between her and Jon would have been like but the only face she could see was Robb's. She fell into a fitful sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

_Sansa got up on her knees and straddled Robb's calves as he lay on his bed. Their family was in bed. The nights belonged to her and Robb. She looked down at him with a mischievous smirk and he arched a brow. "What are you up to?" he asked softly._

 _She answered him by pulling his boxers down over his hips. His dick was half-hard and when she looked down at it and licked her lips, it rose. It made her feel like some kind of Goddess that she could make it rise like that with just a look. She might not fully comprehend the power she had over him, but she liked it._

 _"_ _Sansa, what—oh, fuck…" He couldn't shout the way he did when they were alone. They had become really good about being very, very quiet._

 _Sansa rolled her tongue around the head of his dick and smiled up at him. "Do you like that, Robb?"_

 _"_ _Oh, fuck, sweetheart, yes," he moaned and tunneled his fingers through her hair._

 _Being slightly new at this sort of thing, Sansa took her time with him. She tried different things and learned what he liked by the way he moaned and shuddered under her. When he really liked something he would grip her hair harder and she would do that thing again and again._

 _"_ _Sansa, move baby, I'm going to cum," he gasped out._

 _She didn't move. She wanted to taste him the way he was always tasting her._

 _"_ _Sansa, move – ahh—" His hips jerked and he bit down hard on his fist as he came in her mouth. She swallowed as much as she could and then crawled off him and laid down next to him on the bed. He rolled over onto her and kissed her hard, murmuring how much he loved her and wanted her and needed her. She wondered if he could taste himself on her. And then he was trailing kisses down her body, ardent wet kisses that spoke of need and want and_ now _._

 _She hummed happily when he pulled her pajama bottoms and panties down and then off her. She moaned when he licked her. One of the things Sansa loved most about Robb was how he was definitely a considerate lover who never left her wanting…_

Sansa jerked awake. Her eyes wide as the last of her dream settled in her mind. Tears stung her eyes. What was happening to her? Why would she dream such a thing? Why couldn't she make these dreams stop? Why Robb? Why not Jon? _Why?_

She rolled over and curled into a ball. She was tired still, and now she was wide awake and frustrated that she'd had yet another disturbing dream about her brother. Most disturbing of all was the ache between her legs. That dream had _aroused_ her.

Sansa was no stranger to masturbation, but she refused to do anything about her arousal. She would _not_ touch herself after having such an elicit dream about her brother. Instead, she crawled out of bed with limbs that felt heavy and went to the shower to hopefully wash all of this madness away.

xxxxxxx

Sansa stayed in her bedroom most of the day. She claimed she just had a lot of homework. The only times she left her room was to grab something quick to eat or drink or to use the bathroom. She didn't see Robb the whole day.

The following afternoon when she made it to the office, Margaery was waiting for her. She pulled Sansa into the breakroom immediately. "What did Robb say about me?" she demanded.

"I…don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? He didn't mention me at all?"

"I saw him very briefly when I got home from my date with Jon and we didn't really talk. Then yesterday I didn't see him at all."

"How is that even possible?" Margaery asked incredulously.

"I had a lot of homework," Sansa said with a shrug. "He lives in the basement. I don't see him much unless he comes up or I go down."

 _Don't say go down, Sansa!_ she scolded herself.

Margaery sighed. "You're of no use to me."

"Great. Does that mean I can go to work now?"

"Of course not. At least tell me how he seemed when you saw him."

 _Drunk. And a bit…predatory._ "He seemed really happy."

Margaery clapped her hands happily. "As well he should have been." She frowned. "Although he seemed more uptight after the blowjob than he did before…"

Sansa felt as though Margaery had slapped her with that piece of information. She held up her hand and backed away.

"TMI?" Margaery asked and laughed. "I'm sorry. I just had to tell someone."

"Don't you have other friends you can tell?"

"Yeah, but…you're my friend, too. Okay, you're right, that was probably weird for you to hear. He is your brother and that was probably gross."

If only that was the problem. Gross would have been preferable to…to whatever unexplainable anger she felt at the idea of Robb getting head from Margaery at a fucking drive-in.

Robb, of course, chose that moment to waltz in. He stopped abruptly when he saw Margaery and then he looked at Sansa.

"There you are," Margaery purred and came over to him. "Have you been hiding from me today?"

"Uh…" he darted a look at Sansa. "Actually, Margaery, I was hoping to talk to my sister—"

Sansa shook her head. "You know what, I'm good. I'm good."

Robb took a step toward her. "What's wrong?"

Sansa backed away from him and then just spun around and marched off. Apparently though, Robb was not about to be put off. He caught up with her halfway down the hall and grabbed her arm. She shook him off and turned to face him. "Don't touch me," she snapped.

He looked hurt by that and Sansa thought, _Good, I hope that hurt!_ Her next thought was – _Get a fucking grip, Sansa. What is the_ matter _with you?_

"I'm sorry about the other night," he said. "I was being a dick."

"Oh, good God!" she exclaimed and threw up her hands.

"What?" Robb asked, looking both concerned and supremely confused.

"Can you not say dick? Don't ever say dick. Dick is off the table."

"Sansa, what the fuck is the matter with you?"

She pointed at him. "That is a fantastic question. And I do not have an answer for you. But I'm going to go and think about it. Alone. Very much alone. I cannot stress alone enough."

He held up his hands as if in surrender. "I got it. Loud and clear."

"Great." She stormed off and made a beeline for the bathroom. Once inside, she locked the door and started to cry. _I am not jealous, I am not jealous, I am not jealous,_ she told herself over and over. _Robb is my brother. He's my_ brother. _Robb. Is. My._ Brother. _If he wants to get his dick sucked off by Margaery then he's allowed. I am so NOT jealous._

When she finally emerged ten minutes later, she avoided both Margaery and Robb for the rest of the day.

And then for the next week.

xxxxxxxxxx

Robb was going out of his mind. Sansa had avoided him like the plague for a week and when he asked Margaery if she had any idea what had upset his sister so much, Margaery had said she had no idea, that Sansa had seemed on edge that day to begin with.

When Robb walked into a room, Sansa walked out of it. When he asked her a question, she answered it but wouldn't even look at him. And, he'd noticed, she hadn't talked much with Margaery either.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _"_ _Thank you so much, Robb!" Roslin, Sansa's best friend said happily after he'd given her a jump, checked her oil, and filled her window washer fluid. When he'd gotten home that afternoon he had found Sansa and Roslin rummaging in the garage. He'd asked what was going on and Sansa had told him they were looking for jumper cables since Roslin's battery had died._

 _Robb had given the girl a hand. He liked Roslin as Sansa's best friend. Plus, he wasn't an asshole. Of course he'd help her out._

 _"_ _You're welcome," he said with a grin. "Sansa never checks her oil so I do it for her when I think of it. Right, San?" He furrowed his brow when he turned around and found her gone. "When did she leave?" he asked Roslin._

 _"_ _Oh, a little while ago," Roslin said with a frown. "I need to go or I'd go up and say bye. Can you tell her bye for me?"_

 _Robb nodded. "Of course."_

 _Roslin left and Robb went in search of Sansa. He wasn't sure why she'd just leave her best friend alone with him like that, and frankly he found it rude._

 _He heard music coming from her bedroom and when he attempted to push it open, he found she'd locked it. Odd, that. Sansa never locked her door._

 _"_ _Sansa, let me in," he called through the door._

 _"_ _Go away," she called back._

 _"_ _Sansa, come on. What's going on?"_

 _"_ _I said go away."_

 _He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Why?"_

 _But she wouldn't answer him. Instead, she turned up her radio. He sighed again and figured he'd just talk to her later that night._

 _But later that night when he tried to see her, she still had her door locked. She knew he wouldn't call attention to himself by banging on her door so he'd shuffled back to bed wondering what in the hell had gotten into her._

 _The next afternoon he got home before she did and he waited in her bedroom. When she walked through and saw him standing there she started to walk out. Robb ate the distance between them and grabbed her arm. "Sansa, what is the matter with you? Why are you so upset with me?"_

 _She pursed her lips together and lifted her chin. That was code for "I'll never tell."_

 _Robb took her face in his hands and made her look at him. "Sweetheart, what's wrong with you? You were rude yesterday just taking off on Roslin while I—"_

 _Her eyes narrowed. "While you flirted with Roslin?"_

 _He dropped his hands and gaped at her. "Sansa, are you – are you jealous?"_

 _She glared at him and he laughed. She shoved at him and caught her in his arms and held her tight against him. "Sansa, I was not flirting with Roslin. I was being nice to her, that's all."_

 _"_ _She was flirting with you and you just ate it all up!"_

 _"_ _Was she? I hadn't noticed."_

 _"_ _Oh come on, Robb," she groused._

 _"_ _I truly hadn't," he said and took her face in his hands again. "I only have eyes for you, Sansa. You're the one that owns me."_

 _She softened and Robb pulled her with him to her bed. He pushed her down on the bed and climbed over her. He smirked down at her. "Shall I demonstrate just how much I'm yours?"_

 _Her entire face lit up and then she pulled him down for a kiss._

 ** _End Flashback_**

It was probably too much to hope for that she was jealous. Besides, what could she be jealous of now? She had been fine the night of his date.

Unless Margaery had told him what she'd done to him at the drive-in…?

No. Margaery wouldn't tell Sansa that. Just because he and Sansa had once had no boundaries when it came to what was brotherly and sisterly, didn't mean that others weren't aware. Margaery might not have a lot of boundaries but even she knew not tell Sansa she'd gone down on him.

No, he'd no doubt scared Sansa by how he'd acted. He'd almost kissed her. He would have had she not pushed him away from her. He didn't want to think of what the repercussions of his actions would have been had he done it.

So, for the past week, Sansa been seeing more of Jon while she did everything she could to avoid Robb. Meanwhile, he'd been playing nice with Margaery whilst trying to fend off her bold advances.

She didn't like being told no.

When he told her that he wanted to take things slowly, she had ate it up and told him that she knew from the minute they'd met that Robb was one of the "good ones". He certainly didn't feel like one of the "good ones" lately. He rather felt like the muck under someone's shoe – specifically Sansa's.

The only one that was at all pleased by the fact that brother and sister were barely speaking was their mother. Though he was certain that she had no idea that Sansa was upset with him. Catelyn just saw them not engaging much and took that as a promising sign that Sansa was preoccupied with Jon and that Robb was preoccupied with Margaery.

"Don't forget the company picnic this coming weekend," their father announced over dinner one night. There was a collective groan at the table. Robb knew that meant a day of Margaery beside him at all times. He looked across the table at Sansa who looked at their father and asked, "May I invite Jon?"

Robb schooled his features into one of nonchalance while inside he felt like a volcano about to erupt. She wouldn't even look his way.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sansa liked Jon's kisses.

When Jon kissed her she could put Robb aside in her mind. Could forget for a little while about the dreams she'd been having. For example, the other night she'd dreamt they'd been groping each other in the bathroom. It had felt so real she swore she could feel his lips on her and the edge of the bathroom counter digging into her back.

She'd woken up hot and aching for some kind of release. She instead rolled over and forced herself to think about Jon. She replayed the dream in her mind, but put Jon in the bathroom with her. He was the one with his hand up her shirt. It was her hand down Jon's pants, not Robb's pants. It was Jon saying he wanted her. It was Jon's chest she ran her hands over.

She wished Jon was a little bolder. She wished he'd put his hands on her because she didn't know how to ask him to. Or maybe she wasn't ready. Maybe he wasn't ready. It had only been a week, but she couldn't help but think that if Jon touched her the way Robb did in her dreams maybe Robb would disappear from her dreams.

She wondered if she could ask Margaery how best to let Jon know she was ready for more. She wasn't sure she was, but if it meant putting an end to this… _thing_ with Robb then she would make herself ready.


	9. Chapter 9

Every year the Starks put on a company barbecue. In their somewhat humble law firm, they had three other attorney's besides Ned working for them. So, to say thank you, Ned liked to have a company outing in which the people that worked for him in the firm could invite their family and friends for a day out.

Every year it was somewhere different. This year, because they'd begun planning late, they decided to hold it at the park. The park boasted three playgrounds for the kids, a trail around a decent sized pond that people could swim in, and a trail around the pond. They rented out the entire place for the day, throwing a good chunk of change at it to have the snack bar open and running so they could serve their people food.

What this meant for the Stark children was having to be extra friendly and personable to the people in attendance, and making sure everything ran smoothly. They were all up at what Bran called "the ass crack of dawn" to prepare.

Sansa ended up in the car with her siblings, bleary-eyed and in desperate need of more coffee. She sat in the back and let Arya have the front with Robb. She had actually fallen asleep by the time they arrived at the park. She climbed out of Robb's car with a yawn and stretched before following the brood to the picnic area to help set up.

Robb somehow became her partner.

"Are you ever going to talk to me again?" he asked as they set to work arranging picnic tables.

She looked at him. "I've been talking to you."

"Yeah, you give me one word answers. You won't even look at me, Sansa."

It was easier not to look at him. When she looked at him she was reminded of dreams and feelings and thoughts she shouldn't be having. She looked at him now though and wished she hadn't. He looked so forlorn and she felt bad. He hadn't done anything, not really.

Also, he was handsome. He was handsome and every time she looked at him she couldn't stop herself from thinking it. Her dreams were seeping into her waking life and making her think and feel things she shouldn't be thinking and feeling.

"I'm sorry I was such a di—an ass to you when you came home from your date with Jon," he said. "I don't know what got into me. I've just been a little stressed lately with work and schoolwork…I think I was angling for a fight."

It hadn't really seemed like a fight she thought he'd been angling for, but perhaps that was just her own take on the situation based on her wildly inappropriate dreams. Christ. How depraved had she become?

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if maybe Margaery should blow him again to take the edge off.

"It's fine, Robb," she said.

"Is it really?"

"Yep. I got my kiss from Jon that I wanted. And then some. So yeah, everything is awesome."

Had she really just said that out loud? Robb's jaw clenched. "Great," he said tightly. "I think Dad needs me." He walked away from her.

"I'm losing my ever loving mind," she muttered.

That Margaery and Robb had fooled around should bother her to the point that she wanted to point

out to Robb that she had since gotten the kiss she'd wanted spoke of insanity to Sansa. It shouldn't matter to her that he and Margaery had fooled around and yet it did. It bothered her so much that she wanted to lash out at him. Wanted to hurt him.

Yet the only way to hurt him was if he felt the same. And why would he? He was aware that she was his sister. She'd even made up an entire exchange in her mind as something more because her dreams had blurred the lines between what Robb was in her dreams and what he was in reality.

She wondered if perhaps she needed to see someone. But how in the hell did one talk to a therapist about having X-rated dreams about your brother that left you aroused? That made you see him differently and get jealous over the fact that he was dating someone? They would look at her as though she was disgusting and quite honestly, she felt pretty disgusting. What was going to make it stop?

xxxxxxx

So, Sansa had gotten her kiss from Jon. Well, wasn't that just great.

As he helped Arya and Bran set up tents for shade over the picnic tables, he inwardly seethed. Sansa was still putting him at a distance, but this time it wasn't because she didn't feel she knew him all that well. No, this time he had obviously pissed her off to the point that she was actively shoving him out of her life. As if the fact that she didn't remember anything about him, about them, wasn't bad enough. Now it was like the radio silence of the five years he was in California, but this time it was worse because she was _right in front of him_ and he could do _nothing._

He almost felt as though that part of his life hadn't existed. It had been wiped from Sansa's memory, he had been wiped from her memory. Was it real? Did it happen? Was it just some construct of his mind?

Robb felt out to sea. Lost. Adrift. Just like those days before he discovered Sansa felt something for him, too. He almost didn't feel real. He had never felt more alone in his life. Sansa forgetting him and trying to awkwardly establish some kind of brother-sister relationship with him was one thing, but this – this shutting him out was another thing entirely.

And being here, in this park, where there were memories of them everywhere…

Before their relationship there was the pond where they swam together. The playgrounds where they played when they were kids. The swings where he'd push her just so he could be alone with her. And then after their relationship there was the parking lot where they'd park at night and make love in the backseat. The trail they'd sometimes walk through and fool around on.

He was ashamed of himself for even parking in the spot they used to park in. She hadn't noticed. And he wasn't quite sure what he'd expected. He'd park there and she'd have this grand revelation?

Yes, actually. It was what he'd hoped for even though he knew it was wrong. He was constantly caught between wanting to protect Sansa from what he knew would probably disturb and disgust her if she remembered and wanting desperately for her to remember so he wasn't alone in this.

Theoretically speaking if she remembered he wouldn't be alone in this…he figured if/when that time came, he'd cross that bridge if/when he came to it.

"Robb, you okay?" Bran asked.

Robb nodded and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "I was just thinking now was a good time to start that debilitating drug habit I've been meaning to pick up."

Bran laughed. "Yeah, I'll go see if I can get you a coffee."

Robb nodded his thanks and watched his brother run off.

"Robb!"

Inwardly, he sighed and looked over at Arya. "Yeah?"

"Can you go see what the fuck Sansa is doing over there by the swings? She's not helping."

Robb sighed. "Why don't you go see what she's doing?"

"Because I need to help Mom get some more crap from the car."

"Language, Arya!" Catelyn called out.

"Fuck me," Arya muttered irritably.

Robb just laughed.

xxxxxxxxx

 _"_ _Roslin likes Harry, but then Shae told me that Harry likes me and not Roslin," Sansa said._

 _"_ _And do you like Harry?" Robb asked from behind her._

 _She felt him push her forward on the swing and she considered her answer. "No. I don't think I do. I'm not sure I like anyone right now, honestly."_

 _"_ _Well, I can't say that I'm not pleased to hear that."_

 _Sansa looked over her shoulder at him. "And why is that?"_

 _"_ _Because I'm not sure anyone is good enough for you in that fucking high school," he told her matter-of-factly._

 _"_ _In that case I'll be sure not to tell when I do like someone. I don't need you scaring them off."_

"Sansa."

Robb came to stand beside her as she stared at the swing set. She pointed to it. "In high school, you pushed me on the swings there and I told you about how Roslin had a crush on Harry and Shae told me that Harry had a crush on me and not Roslin."

"Yes," Robb said softly.

She turned slightly and pointed to the sandbox. "And there you punched some kid after he pushed me into the dirt when we were kids."

"Yes," he said.

"I don't even know who Harry is."

His hands itched to touch her. To draw her close, to run his fingers through his hair – something, anything. He didn't feel like he was fading away so much now and he craved contact to confirm that. "It doesn't matter. You remembered things about me – about our…relationship. That's what matters." He pointed to the jungle gym. "Do you remember playing knights and maidens in there?"

She furrowed her brow. "No. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Sansa." He couldn't stop himself from hugging her then. God, when was the last time he'd held her in his arms? When he'd first arrived home? He cradled the back of her head. Let his mother say something to him, right now he didn't care. Sansa had memories of them.

"I could feel it," she said. "The closeness we had."

Robb shut his eyes and had to fight hard not bury his nose in her hair. "Yes." He could feel her arms around him, her hands warm through his shirt.

"Hey…" came a slightly familiar voice.

 _No, no, don't interrupt us,_ Robb thought. _Not yet. Give us just a little more time…_

But then Sansa was detangling herself and leaving him. "Jon!" she said excitedly.

 _Fucking Jon…_

"I just had memories," Sansa told Jon.

Jon smiled broadly. "What did you remember?"

She relayed to Jon what she'd told Robb and Robb smiled at the excitement in her voice and in her face.

And then he began to worry.

She'd had two memories back to back and in a short span of time. This park was rife with them. What if she had one she didn't know how to deal with?

He had to keep an eye on her. God, and he'd parked in that same spot as he used to…shit. It didn't seem like such a good idea to him anymore. If she remembered them, the way they were, and didn't know how to process something like that…what would it do to her mind? If Sansa remembered them, Robb wanted her in a safe place when it happened, and preferably with him by her side.

xxxxxxxxx

Sansa felt as though she was walking on a cloud after having those two memories return. It had been the strangest thing. She had been helping Rickon set up a tent and all she'd done was glance over at the playground and she'd seen the whole scene like a movie playing out in her head. After she'd finished with Rickon she'd gone over there to see if anything else could trigger a memory. Only one other thing had (the sandbox), but that was still something amazing in Sansa's point of view.

And, it had seemed to break down the wall that had been there between her and Robb. A wall she had constructed, but a wall nonetheless. She was so happy to have remembered, and she was happy to have made Robb happy, too.

It wasn't even bothering her that Margaery hadn't left Robb's side once since she'd arrived. That was fine. Sansa had Jon. Jon had been by _her_ side the entire time.

Now they were sitting on the little beach together away from the festivities and just looking out over

the water together and talking.

Sansa dug out her Altoids from her pocket and handed Jon one and then took one for herself. He grinned knowingly at her. "What?" she asked.

"I know you want a kiss when you dig out the Altoids," he told her and she laughed and blushed.

She sighed and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wound an arm around her and she shut her eyes and smiled with contentment.

"So, your brother doesn't seem to like me much," Jon said.

Sansa's eyes popped open and she frowned. "Which one?"

"Robb."

"Meh. He's just doing his big brother thing. Don't worry about it."

"I kind of do though. He's your big brother and I want him to like me."

"Don't worry about it." She popped her head up and looked at him with a smile. "All that matters is

that _I_ like you."

Jon grinned and leaned in for a kiss. "Can't argue with that," he murmured.

When they parted, she sighed and looked around. She pointed to the beginning of the path – or the end of it depending on which way you caught it – and asked if Jon if he wanted to walk it.

"I've been here like maybe twice since my accident," Sansa said. "I know my Mom used to take us all the time as kids, and I obviously hung out here in high school with Robb a few times – hence the memory. Want to check out the path with me? I haven't done that at all since my accident."

Jon stood and held out his hands. "Sure," he said.

She placed her hands in his and stood. They kissed briefly, and then started on the path into the woods.

xxxxxxx

"Arya, have you seen your sister?" Robb asked as he scanned the perimeter of the gathering.

"I did," Margaery piped up. "She and Jon went down to the beach I think."

Robb had a bad feeling. He wasn't sure where it was coming from – maybe just his own fears and worries, but he'd managed to keep a close eye on Sansa for most of the afternoon and he wasn't about to lose track of her now.

There were so many minefields of memories to be had in this park, and Robb needed to be there with her just in case. "Mind if we go down there and see how they're doing?" he asked Margaery. He was really doing the polite thing by asking because, quite frankly, even if she said no he was still going out there.

Margaery smiled. "It's so cute how protective you are of your sister," she said. "Sure, let's go."

xxxxxxxx

The path was nice. Trees surrounded them and the trail was so thin they had to walk single-file.

Every once in a while a chipmunk would dash across Jon's path. As long as a snake didn't come slithering out, Sansa would count this hike as a success.

They rounded a corner and the trail opened up considerably. A steep hill was before them, and behind that hill was another one. Sansa followed Jon over the crest of a smaller hill where the trail actually was and she glanced up to the side at the hills covered with acorns and leaves.

And then she saw it like a movie in her head. Just as the other memories had come.

 _"_ _No one is going to be coming down here, I promise," Robb said as he sat beside her on the crest of the second hill._

 _"_ _We're all alone…come on."_

 _"_ _But someone could walk by, Robb," she protested._

 _"_ _No one will. Trust me."_

 _He pushed her back onto the hill and kissed her. "I'll even be quick," he said huskily and undid the snap of her jeans. He trailed kisses down her body and then pulled her jeans down and then her panties and proceeded to go down on her. She tangled her fingers in his curls and gasped at the feel of his tongue on her. She loved also, the feel of his beard rubbing in just the right places…_

There was a ringing in Sansa's ears as the scene ended in her mind.

"Sansa!"

She blinked and found Jon standing there looking almost frantic. "What happened? Where did you go? You just stopped and I thought you were right behind me," he explained. "I called your name but you wouldn't answer. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you having another memory? A bad one?"

But Sansa didn't know how to answer him. She couldn't even form words. She couldn't even _think_. Had that been an actual memory or a memory of a dream she didn't remember having? All her other memories had come to her in that way though.

No, no. That couldn't have been a memory. It couldn't have been. How was that…no.

"Sansa, talk to me, you're scaring me."

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said. Her stomach roiled. She ran behind the nearest tree and threw up.

"Sansa, sweetheart," Jon murmured as he came up beside her and started to rub her back. "Let's go back, okay? You might have food poisoning."

Tears stung her eyes. She was going crazy. She'd snapped; she'd officially snapped. She didn't even

remember the rest of the walk out of the trail. She felt outside of herself, as though she wasn't in her body anymore.

When they hit the parking lot and she saw Robb's car another one played out in her head.

 _Sansa and Robb were curled up in the backseat of his car and they were laughing together._

 _"_ _I'm doing it," she said and stretched up to slap her hand against the steamed window._

 _Robb laughed and pulled her back down. He kissed her and smiled against her mouth. "Happy now? You had your_ Titanic _moment."_

 _"_ _Yes," she murmured and kissed him. "Hey, guess what?"_

 _"_ _What?" he asked as he trailed a hand down her back._

 _"_ _I love you."_

 _He smiled. "I love you, too."_

"I think I'm going to be sick again," she muttered. "Take me home, Jon, please, take me home."

"Let me get you in the car and then I'll go tell your family."

"No, just get me out of here. Please, I need to go. I can't be here. I need to go."

"Do you have your cell on you? You need to tell someone you're leaving, Sansa."

She nodded and fumbled with her phone with shaking hands. She couldn't make it work. She couldn't grip the phone, she couldn't see anything from the tears that blurred her eyes.

"I'll call," Jon said and took her phone. He led her quickly to his car and she got in, her limbs feeling like jelly. Jon shut the door behind her and she heard him talking, but she didn't know to who. And he took a while talking to them. When he got in the car she asked him who he'd called.

"Robb," Jon said. "He's on the trail with Margaery. He sounded worried. I told him I was taking you home, that you got sick on the trail."

"Did you tell him anything else?"

Jon paused after he started the car. "I told him you weren't acting right."

"I always cry when I throw up," she said weakly.

"No, Sansa, you look spooked. Like you witnessed a murder or something. Did you remember something?"

She didn't answer. She didn't know how. She couldn't think clearly enough to come up with a lie.

"I'm fine, Jon," she whispered.

"I'll take you home and stay with you for as long as you need okay?"

Sansa nodded, wondering if she was actually losing her mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Sansa had had more memories. Robb was certain of it. The kind she couldn't understand and had probably disturbed her. Jon had said she'd looked spooked, he'd also said she'd thrown up. Right now, all Robb wanted to do was get to her and talk to her and try to make her understand what had gone on. He couldn't even imagine how she must feel and what she must think trying to piece it all together. Most likely, Sansa was having the same reaction to it that their mother had when he'd confessed: disgust.

"Would you slow down?" Margaery groused behind him. "I don't really get why we have to run after Sansa just because she had a spot of food poisoning. It happens. Jon's with her so I'm sure she's fine, Robb."

"He said she wasn't acting right," Robb told her.

"Yeah, and maybe Jon's a drama queen. But, I mean, does anyone act right when they have food poisoning? It sucks."

Robb forced himself to slow down. If he acted too crazy about getting to Sansa, Margaery might say something to his parents. That would not be good, especially when it came to Catelyn. If she knew that Sansa was having memories of them she might tell him to go away again. He wouldn't survive another separation from Sansa, especially now if she remembered and there was some small chance they could find a way to be together.

"You're right," he said and forced himself to slow down.

"I'm always right," she replied and slung her arm through his even though the path was not wide enough to walk side-by-side for very long. "Ya know, we could make some use of the fact that no one is around…" She pushed him off the path and against a tree. Robb winced as his head cracked against it. He looked down at Margaery who was looking up at him like she meant to have him as a snack.

She probably did.

"People will be walking by here," he told her.

"We could give them a show," she said with a smirk.

"No, I don't think so," Robb said and pushed her gently away from him. "Come on, let's get back to the picnic."

Robb spent the walk back trying to figure out a way to see Sansa alone without rousing any suspicion from his mother.

xxxxxxxx

"Sansa, how are you feeling?" Jon asked gently as he sat down facing her on her bed. Sansa was curled up in fetal position just staring across her room.

"I'm fine," she said hollowly.

"Do you feel sick?"

 _In the head_ , she thought. "I'm fine."

"Can you give me a little more than that?" he asked and ran his hand through her hair. "Maybe what else has upset you besides throwing up?"

Her phone rang then and she shook her head as she looked at it on her nightstand.

Jon grabbed it and went out in the hall.

xxxxxxxx

"What's going on with my sister?" Robb asked Jon. He'd managed to break away from the picnic and Margaery by hiding in the bathroom. "Why didn't she answer her own phone?"

"She looked at it like it was the devil," Jon replied. "So I figured I would get it for her."

"What is she doing?"

"She's just lying in bed all curled up looking rather…well…"

"Yeah?"

"Broken. She's staring off into space and every time I ask her if she's okay, if she needs something, or how she's feeling she just says 'I'm fine'. Do you think one of you Starks could come and see her?"

Robb would think of something to tell his mother. He had to. But he didn't want Jon to know he would be coming in case he told Sansa that. She might get it in her head to avoid him. "I'll see if I can get Bran or Rickon to head over."

"Thanks, man. I'll tell her."

Robb ended the call and stuffed his phone in his pocket. Okay. He had to do this right and give his mother no cause for suspicion, and no reason to prefer to actually send Bran or Rickon over. Hopefully, Margaery would do him a solid and not blab about how worried he was about Sansa.

He left the bathroom and made his way over to his mother and father who were sitting at a table talking with some friends. He waved to his mother to get her attention. If he spoke to his father and his mother found out she would get suspicious. Best to talk to her first.

She came over to him with a frown. "What is it?"

"Jon called me on Sansa's phone," Robb said. "I guess she got sick when they went on the trail. She threw up."

"Oh no!" Catelyn looked worried. "Where is she now?"

"Jon took her home. I just talked to him. He's with her, and I guess she's really not feeling all that great. He doesn't want to leave her alone to get her something to help settle her belly and keep her hydrated so I thought I'd head out and do that."

"Of course, of course. If you need me, give me a call. In fact, just call me anyway and let me know how she's doing, okay?"

"Definitely," Robb said.

xxxxxxxx

"I don't want any of my brothers here," Sansa told Jon. "And definitely not Arya. She'll just call me a cow and tell me to get out of bed."

"I think you should just see them, Sansa," Jon said. "Maybe it will help with…whatever it is that's upsetting you so much. Since you don't want to tell me, or can't, maybe having someone here that you _can_ tell will help."

 _Nothing can help me, and certainly no one,_ Sansa thought miserably. _I fucked my brother, Jon. Before you knew me I was a brother-fucker. And if my feelings for him as of late are anything to go by I've been headed down that path again. I'm sick. And so is Robb._

"I want to wash my face," she murmured and crawled out of the bed.

Jon helped her out of the bed even though she didn't need it. He was such a good man. And she liked him, she really did. He was her best friend…and she could never tell him the truth of her life. She could never tell _anyone._

Sansa shut the bathroom door behind her and stared at herself in the mirror. Her dream came back; the one of her and Robb groping each other in this very bathroom.

 _It hadn't been a dream, had it?_ she thought. _It had been a memory. Had all those dreams been memories in disguise? Why now? Why were they all coming back now?_

Robb. That was the reason why. That _had_ to be the reason why. His presence back home had opened some kind of door in her mind. Not all of the puzzle pieces were there, but she was sure it wouldn't take long.

She washed her face, dried it, and padded back to her bedroom.

She froze when she saw Robb standing there. She looked around. Where did Jon go? She needed him; she couldn't be alone with Robb. She didn't even want to be in same room as him.

"Jon?!" she called out and rushed out of the room. "Jon?"

"He's gone, Sansa," Robb said from behind her just as she reached the top of the stairs. "I sent him to the store to get ginger ale and Gatorade."

"I don't want to talk to you," she said.

When she felt his hand on her arm she jerked away from him. She turned to face him but wouldn't look at him. "Don't touch me," she snapped. "Don't ever touch me again."

"You remember," he said softly.

"Not everything, but I got the gyst."

"On the trail?"

"I don't want to talk about this," she said and started marching down the hall to her bedroom. She heard Robb following her quickly and she tried to shut the door before he could get in, but he pushed his way in.

"I know you don't want to talk about this, Sansa. I know that it's upset you—"

"Upset me?" she shouted. "There are no words to describe how I feel right now, Robb. You're my _brother_. I was…with my _brother._ "

"I know," he said softly.

"God, it's not the whole family, is it? Are we all sick? Are Bran and Arya…are you and Arya?"

"Sansa, no. It was only us."

"Why?"

"Because we loved each other. Not just as brother and sister, but as a man and a woman."

She shook her head adamantly and wiped furiously at the tears that fell. "No. No. _No_."

"Yes. Can you tell me what you remember?"

"I can't even _say_ it. We were sick, right? Is that why you went away? To get help? Did it work? Can I go, too?"

He sighed and shut his eyes. When he opened them, she saw tears. He raked a hand through his hair and said, "I went away because Mom figured it out and I had to tell her the truth. She wanted me to go, and I knew that I had to. For you. I wanted to give you a chance at a normal life. Since you didn't remember, you had more of a chance for that than I did."

Sansa was reeling. "Mom…knows? Mom. Our Mom."

"Yes, Sansa, our mom. She knows."

"Does anyone else?"

"No."

"I'm sorry," he said and started to cry. "I didn't want this for you. I didn't want it to happen this way."

Sansa forced herself to stand still even though part of her wanted to go to him. How could she comfort him in this though? She could barely wrap her mind around it and he was her big brother that was supposed to protect her, not fuck her.

"Tell me what I can do to make this better for you, please," he begged. "I'll do it. I'll do anything."

"When did it start?" she asked quietly. "How?"

"I fell in love with you—"

"Don't say that."

"It's true, Sansa. You might not like it or welcome it but I love you."

She turned her head away from him and looked out her window that she was standing next to. "Jon's back," she murmured.

"Sansa, send him away, please. We need to talk about this."

xxxxxx

Sansa didn't even remember what she told Jon to make him leave. He did though, yet he was worried. He kissed her forehead and told her he'd call her later. Sansa tried not to feel she wasn't worthy of such a good man.

"Thank you," Robb said after Jon was gone and she'd shut the door.

"I didn't send him away for you," she said and turned to face him.

"Just the same." He gestured to the table. "Have a seat?"

She did so, stiffly. She stretched her arms out on the table and folded her hands together tightly. He sat down across from her.

"It started when I was a junior and you were a freshman," he told her. "I know you don't want to hear it, but I fell in love with you."

"How is that even possible?"

"Sansa, we were always close—"

"So are Bran and Rickon. So are Arya and Bran. So are a million other siblings on the planet. That doesn't mean you fall into bed with them!"

"It wasn't just sex, Sansa. That's not what it was about. Not for us. You loved me back. I didn't rape you, I didn't take advantage of you. I would never have done that."

"Oh, well, that takes a load off. My brother that was fucking me on the side had some standards," she said sarcastically.

He clenched his jaw. "You fucked me back, Sansa. It wasn't a one-sided thing. In fact, you were the one that kissed me and started our whole affair. Do you remember that?"

She glared at him. "No."

"When you had those memories, did you feel anything? I'm not talking about the obvious distress you felt. You said this morning when you remembered me pushing you on the swings and how I punched that kid for you, you said you felt the closeness we had. Did you feel anything when you remembered the other things?"

Sansa pursed her lips together and slid her arms off the table.

Her silence said everything that she would not. "You did," he said.

She looked at him for a long time and then finally stood from her chair. "I'm done talking," she said and headed back to her room.

Robb let her go. She had a lot to think about. A lot to process already.

He was ashamed to feel hope.


	11. Chapter 11

Sansa avoided Robb for two days. She didn't go to work, only to classes. She claimed she still wasn't up to par and that she had papers to finish before the end of the semester. Robb supposed he should at least be thankful that she hadn't told their mother about _those_ memories returning.

He knew he had to give her space. He couldn't push her to talk to him, even if he knew she must have questions. A lot had been thrown at her in a short span of time, so he gave her the time she needed to process.

On the third day, she finally came to him. It was late, everyone else was in bed and Robb was sitting up in bed and reading one of his textbooks when there was a faint knock on his door. He got up, thinking it was anyone else in the house but Sansa. She had never been down to his room in the basement. Not once.

But then there she was, not looking directly at him and playing with the hem of her shirt. She looked nervous; she rather reminded him of a frightened animal ready to bolt at the first chance she got. "Can we talk?" she asked.

 _Don't act too eager_ , he told himself. _Don't scare her off._ He stepped aside to let her through. "Of course."

Robb let her claim a spot (his desk chair) before he claimed his own (the chair in the corner opposite her. He thought sitting on the bed might creep her out).

She shifted in the chair as though she couldn't get comfortable, further evidence that she was feeling rattled – not that he blamed her. Robb waited patiently for her to start. He was determined that she would be in charge here, not him. It was the only way to gain her trust and hopefully calm her nerves.

"You said that I initiated it," she said finally. "Can you tell me how?" She sounded as though she was conducting a professional interview. He supposed this was her way of keeping him at a distance while she sorted it all out in her head.

"Sure," he said. "Well, we were at the park together and horsing around like kids, like the old days – swinging on the swings, going on the monkey bars, playing on the see-saw. Then we just kind of sat down together on one of the benches near the water."

"We went to the park a lot, ya know… before?"

"Yes. We'd go and just spend time together. I pushed you on the swings, we walked on the trail, and we talked. Like I said before, we were close."

"And you had… feelings for me then?"

"Yes, Sansa. I was in love with you then."

Her all business demeanor dropped and her brow furrowed in confusion, her posture dropping and not so ramrod straight. "How – ?" She broke off and shook her head. "Forget it." She straightened again. "Keep going about what happened that night, please."

Robb leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "You put your head on my shoulder while we were sitting there. We both got quiet. I was thinking about how much I wanted to kiss you and couldn't and I turned my head to tell you we should head back and you…laid one on me."

She pursed her lips together. "And then what?"

"I stopped it."

She cocked her head to the side. "Why? If it's what you wanted?"

"Because as much as I wanted it, I needed to know why you did it and make sure you knew what you were doing."

"Wouldn't my having done it meant that I knew what I was doing?"

Robb smiled. "That's what you said then, too."

She didn't smile back. "Then what happened?"

"We talked about it. You were embarrassed that I'd stopped it and worried that I thought you were, in your words, gross."

"Hm."

"I put you at ease by telling you I loved you, and had for a long time. You asked me if I meant that I loved you as a brother or as something more—"

"And you said as something more," she finished. She was looking somewhere across the room though, and not at Robb. "Then I told you I felt the same way and we kissed again. Then you stopped it again and said we had to talk about what this meant and what would happen next."

"Yes," Robb said softly. "You remembered. Just now or—?"

Now she looked at him. "No, I remembered yesterday."

"Then why…?"

"I wanted to verify I guess. I've been having dreams since you came home. Now I think they might have been memories."

"Can you tell me about some of them?"

She reddened and looked down at her lap. She was sitting on her hands and had her legs together primly. "I don't think I can."

"I can verify—"

"They were a little X-rated, Robb. I'm not feeling all that comfortable talking about it."

"All of them?"

She looked at him with an arched brow. "You sound almost…gleeful."

He opted not to answer her on that. "You've been having dreams about us this whole time I've been back?" His mind went back over all the exchanges they'd had since he returned. He sat up straighter. "Is that why you weren't talking to me? Because you were remembering?"

"I didn't know they were memories. I didn't know what going on. To me they were just dreams that I…couldn't understand."

"What did they make you feel, Sansa?"

"Uncomfortable. Wrong. Sick." She shifted in her seat and pulled her hands out from under her. She was rattled again or, rather, still.

He watched her long and hard. She was keeping something from him. He knew it. Some parts of her had changed after the accident, but his Sansa was still in there and he wasn't so out of touch with her to know when she was deliberately keeping something from him.

"What else?" he asked.

"What?"

"What else did you feel?"

She looked at him sharply. And nervously. "Isn't that enough?"

"No, because you all but admitted you felt the emotions of your memories—"

"I never said that."

"You're right, you didn't. If I remember correctly, you wouldn't answer me when I asked you if you did. And then you walked away. In the park when you had that memory of us on the playground—"

"Oh, fuck the park!" she exclaimed. So she _was_ hiding something.

Robb wasn't about to let it go though, and her unwillingness to tell him – even to attempt to lie to him – was telling. He just wanted her to admit it so they could actually get somewhere. He stood. "Sansa. What. Did. You. Feel?"

She lifted her chin and looked at him defiantly. " _Nothing_."

"Liar," he started walking towards her and she got up and moved away from him. He stopped pursuing her. "When you stopped talking to me and I asked you why, you didn't have an answer for me. And then I noticed you stopped talking to Margaery. Why did you stop talking to your friend?"

"You're like a dog with a bone," she muttered.

"Answer the question, Sansa," he demanded.

She glared at him. "You're not the boss of me, _Robb_."

He started walking slowly towards her again and she moved to the side just as slow.

"I remember a time when we were together and you got very jealous of your friend Roslin," he began. "You thought I was flirting with her and I wasn't. While I was giving her car a jump and checking her fluids, the way I always used to do for you, you just left. You didn't say anything to either of us. You just disappeared. You wouldn't talk to me. I can only imagine that perhaps you didn't talk to Roslin either. I got it out of you that you'd been jealous."

"So you think because I don't talk to you and Margaery I'm automatically jealous? How did my dreams making me uncomfortable lead you down that path? Maybe I just didn't want to talk to anyone."

He shook his head, frustrated that she just wouldn't _admit_ it. "Because you were having feelings with those dreams, Sansa." He was aware that his frustration was bleeding through in his tone, but he couldn't stop it. No one quite got under his skin the way Sansa could. She'd always been aggravatingly stubborn. "You were having feelings for _me_. And Margaery was someone I was being forced to date."

She stopped moving and so did he. Her brow furrowed. "Wait. Forced?"

Robb sighed. "Mom thought we were getting a little too chummy. She strongly urged me to date. Dad must have told her that Margaery flirted with me at work so she suggested I go out with her. She thought I should try to find someone for myself."

"Unfuckingbelievable," Sansa muttered.

"What?"

"You and Mom keeping all this from me. I mean I'm sure there's no Hallmark card for this kind of situation – 'Glad you're out of the coma, sorry for the memory loss, allow me to fill you in on all the sexcapades you've been having with your brother!' Fucking hell!"

"Sansa, it's not like there was an easy way to tell you something like that," he ground out.

"I understand that, but maybe it would have been better than having me remember during Dad's company picnic while I'm going for a walk in the woods with my boyfriend! It's a little disconcerting when you happen to look over at some nice grassy knoll and have the memory of your brother going down on said grassy knoll."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Oh. You're sorry. I feel better!"

"We thought my going away would help."

"How did you end up telling Mom?"

"She suspected before the accident—"

Sansa held up a finger. "Wait." She pointed at Robb. "Tell me about Joffrey. Where did he fit in?"

Robb sighed heavily and raked a hand through his hair.

Sansa had the urge to fix his curls –

 _"_ _Robb, what's going on?" she asked. She was worried. He looked strung out._

 _"_ _She told me that she saw us last night watching TV when she got up to get a drink in the kitchen," Robb said and started to pace. "She said she noticed something between us."_

 _"_ _Oh no, not that!" Sansa faux gasped, trying to lighten his mood._

 _He stopped and looked at her sternly. This was Robb in serious mode. "Sansa, she said that there was an intimacy between us that made her uncomfortable. She said that it's not the first time she's noticed it and just chalked it up to us being close, but after she saw how we were together she can't ignore it anymore."_

 _"Robb—"_

 _"_ _Sansa, she asked me point blank if there was something going on between us. She couldn't even get the words out…" He looked so sad by that._

 _Sansa went over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "What did you tell her?" she asked._

 _"_ _I told her that I don't know what she thought she saw but she was mistaken," he told her. "I told her I would never do anything like that with you and of course you never would with me. I told her I couldn't believe she would even suggest that."_

 _"_ _And?"_

 _"_ _I'm not sure she bought it. Sansa, I'm a little worried."_

 _She arched a brow. "A little?" She supposed it was the wrong thing to say, but when Robb got like this he saw problems, not solutions. Sansa wanted to focus on solutions._

 _"_ _How can you not be?" he demanded. "If Mom and Dad find out about us they could separate us, Sansa. They could make me go away. Do you want that?"_

 _"_ _Of course not," she said and wound her arms around him tightly. Robb wrapped his arms around her and held her just as tightly. She couldn't fathom the thought of being separated from Robb. It would be like losing a limb. It would be like taking a piece of her soul. "I love you," she said softly._

 _"_ _We need to lay low," he told her. "We need to keep our distance. We can't give her any reason to suspect."_

 _A plan began to form in Sansa's mind. A way to get their mother off the scent…_

 _"_ _Sansa, are you listening to me?"_

 _She pulled back and looked up at him. "I'll get a boyfriend."_

 _He gaped at her. "What?"_

 _"_ _There's a boy at school that asked me out a couple times—"_

 _"_ _How am I just hearing about this now?" he demanded._

 _She rolled her eyes. "Really, Robb? Now's not the time—"_

 _"_ _Who is he?"_

 _"_ _His name is Joffrey. He's some popular rich boy. He seems nice." Actually, Sansa thought he was a bit of a pompous ass but she didn't need to make this a long-term thing. She just needed to go out with him a few times. But, if Robb knew she thought he was a jerk there was no way he'd let her go out with him. She was pretty certain he was going to fight her on this as it was. "Look, I'll just go out with him a few times. No big deal. Mom will stop worrying—"_

 _"_ _Or maybe we should do nothing and go on as we have," Robb said, and she could hear the desperation in his voice. "If you all of a sudden get a boyfriend she might think we're actually guilty."_

 _"_ _How about this – how about we do nothing for a while and then in a couple weeks I'll tell Joffrey I'll go out with him. I'll play it off like it's no big deal and I'm not really sure it's what I want to do and Mom will do her Mom thing where she talks to me about it, maybe even convinces me it's a good idea, and then that's it. It's done. After a couple dates I'll stop seeing him. Ba da bing, ba da boom, it's done."_

 _"_ _Why can't I just go out with some girl? Jeyne at work flirts with me all the time," Robb said._

 _Nope. No way was she going to watch Robb go out with another girl. Over her dead body. She was aware she had a bit of a jealous streak in her when it came to Robb. She supposed it was the fact that they already had to sneak around so much as it was, and couldn't be open with their feelings. She was a bit covetous of their time together as a result and didn't like interlopers. Plus, she was well aware of how hot he was._

 _"_ _Nope, I'm going to go out with Joffrey. It's decided," Sansa said and turned away from him and smiled coyly at him. "You don't want me to boil any bunnies in a fit of jealousy do you, Robb?"_

"Sansa? Where did you go?"

Sansa blinked a few times. She'd been staring off, lost in the memory. She looked at Robb. He was close now. Right in front of her close. Nearly in her space close. He looked worried. "Did you just have a memory?" he asked.

"Yes. Mom thought something was going on and I offered to date Joffrey to get her off the scent," she replied.

Robb clenched his jaw. "Yes. I never should have let you go out with that monster."

"I didn't want you to go out with another girl. I was too jealous even just thinking about it."

He looked at her knowingly. "You felt that."

"Yes, I—"

 _Shit._

Sansa took a step back. Robb took a step forward. "Tell me what you were feeling when you stopped talking to me and Margaery," he said, his voice a low rumble.

Sansa didn't want to feel it like a caress over her body, but she did. She backed away again and he followed. "Honestly? I thought you were a bit of slut after Margaery told me she blew you on your first date," she said bitingly. "I thought you were better than that."

Robb froze. "She…she told you that?"

"It slipped out." _Kind of like your dick_ , she thought.

"She shouldn't have told you that," Robb said irritably.

Sansa started to laugh. She couldn't help it. She had officially lost her mind. Robb looked at her as though he thought the same thing.

"Relatively speaking, I don't think it matters," she said, laughing. "Spoiler alert – I'm not a virgin. I'm assuming I lost my virginity to you, right?"

He nodded, still looking so serious. "Yes."

She couldn't seem to stop laughing. It was bordering on hysteria. "So, does it really matter if Margaery told me she sucked your dick? Based on the dreams I had we probably could have been trading stories."

"Sansa, stop," he snapped.

"Oh, come on. I've spent the past couple days crying and thinking I'm sick. I was looking into mental institutions."

"Sansa—"

"So, I'm sorry if I happened to find some humor in a very fucked up situation." All traces of laughter was gone from her voice now. "If I don't laugh I'll cry. Poor Jon doesn't know what to do with me. And it's not like I can tell him. I can't even _look_ at Mom."

"I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that! Is there anything else you can say, Robb?"

He startled her by taking her face in his hands. "I love you," he said hoarsely. "I still love you, Sansa. I never stopped."

She put her hands around each of his wrists to stop him even as she felt herself sway into him.

"Sansa," he whispered. "You were feeling all those feeling again, weren't you?"

He drew her face closer – or he moved his closer – Sansa wasn't sure. All she knew was she could feel his hot breath on her face and she liked it. She closed her eyes and she started to breathe heavier.

"You do," he whispered in awe. "You do feel it."

He was going to kiss her and she couldn't let that happen. Her eyes flew open and she pushed away from him. "No. No, Robb, that's not going to happen."

She ran up the stairs before he could do anything to stop her.


	12. Chapter 12

Robb let her go. He wasn't going to scare her by giving chase. Nor was he going to do anything to put him and Sansa in jeopardy with their mother. He licked his lips; he'd been so close he could almost taste her.

His heart thudded heard with anticipation and excitement as he began to pace. He felt as though he had an excess of energy he needed to purge. Those feelings for him had been stirred up. She'd had a very real, very physical reaction to him when he'd touched her. He looked down at himself (specifically his crotch) and chuckled. So had he.

Okay, so he couldn't get ahead of himself too much now though. She was still in the mindset that this was wrong and it couldn't happen. She would fight it, and that was to be expected. It sounded as though she had been fighting it since she'd starting having dreams/memories. He had to expect that she would. Though pre-accident Sansa had gone through her own bout of feeling as though something was wrong with her having fallen for him, she had been more willing after finding out how he felt.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Robb wanted nothing more than to just lose himself in Sansa's kiss. He couldn't even believe that this was happening. That all this time he'd not been alone in feeling these things. Still though, he needed to know where she was at, what she was thinking. This was not the sort of thing to take lightly._

 _He pushed at her gently and when she realized what he was doing, she broke the kiss and buried her face in her hands. "Oh my God, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have – oh my God." She dropped her hands and stood, face red and unable to look at him. "Can we just go and forget this ever happened? I'm so mortified. I can't believe I did that. Let's just go." She started to walk away._

 _"_ _Sansa, wait."_

 _She stopped and turned. "I know. You think I'm gross."_

 _"_ _Not at all."_

 _"_ _Oh come on, Robb. I just laid a big fat kiss on you. How can you not?"_

 _"_ _Did you meant to do it? Did you know what you were doing?"_

 _"_ _Wouldn't my having done it meant that I knew what I was doing?" she asked. "Why would I have kissed you otherwise?"_

 _"_ _Maybe you were thinking of someone else."_

 _She looked at him like he was crazy. "That makes no sense."_

 _He sighed. "I just. . . I want you to have been sure…"_

 _Her brow furrowed. "Why?"_

 _He looked her in the eye. "Because I love you, Sansa. I was sitting here thinking how much I wanted to kiss you and then you did it."_

 _She gaped at him. "You…love me?"_

 _He nodded._

 _"_ _Like a…brother?"_

 _"_ _There is that, yes,' he said and made his way over to her. He reached out and touched the side of her face and he noticed how his hand shook. Was this a dream? He felt like he'd had it so many times. "I love you as a boy loves a girl, as a man loves a woman…I'm in love with you, Sansa. I have been for a very long time now."_

 _God, he hoped he hadn't admitted too much. His heart beat so hard he thought it might erupt right out of his chest. He wondered if she could hear it._

 _Then she broke into a wide smile. "I love you, too, Robb." And then she practically leapt forward to kiss him again. Robb held her face in his hands as he kissed her again and again and again. He couldn't get enough, and he couldn't get her close enough to him._

 _"_ _Do you mean it?" he muttered against her lips and then kissed her before she could answer him._

 _"_ _Yes," she managed to answer before their lips were fused together again._

 _Robb thought he might split into a million pieces due to sheer euphoria. He didn't know that such a feeling existed. He continued to hold her face in his hands as he just looked at her, studying every part of her beautiful face. "I've loved you for so long," he rasped. "I never thought I'd be here hearing you tell me you love me back."_

 _She put her hands over his on her face. "I've felt this way for a long time, too," she said. "But I thought it was wrong and so I tried to fight it."_

 _"_ _I understand," he murmured, thinking of how he'd tried so hard to fight what he felt as well. "I don't want to fight it anymore, Sansa."_

 _"_ _I don't either," she whispered._

 ** _End Flashback_**

Sansa then had been more willing, but Sansa then had grappled with her feelings longer too. Plus, she'd been all of sixteen then and most sixteen-year-olds thought they were invincible. They didn't really think in terms of consequences to their actions. She'd been impetuous then; she wasn't so much anymore.

Robb figured the accident and resulting amnesia and injuries made this version of her cautious. She didn't seem as trusting, and seemed to like to stay to herself…or with Jon. He supposed now Jon was her shield. Her shield against her feelings (or so she thought) and her shield against him. She wondered though, if she thought of Margaery that way as well. The fact that she had obviously been jealous over Margaery going down on him made him think that perhaps Sansa would be perfectly fine if he were to end things with Margaery.

Well, that made both of them. Margaery's sexuality was too in-your-face and obvious whereas Robb preferred Sansa's sweet and subtle sexuality. It was always the little things with Sansa that drove him wild – a heated glance, a knowing smirk, when she'd stretch like a cat in front of him and he could do nothing about it…Sansa liked to tease. But she was never overt about it. And then there were times when she would just nestle right into him as if he was her pillar of strength. He often thought it the other way around.

Sansa was home to him. Not the kind one found with one's family, but the kind one found in the partner they wanted to spend their life with. Without Sansa, Robb felt as though he was missing a vital part of himself – like a piece of his soul. He bled like an open wound without her. He wondered if some part of her felt that. Was it wrong to hope that she did? Or would eventually if she didn't already?

Robb wanted her back so badly that his thoughts were muddled on how to make that happen. He knew he had to give her space, but how much did he give her? Could he crowd her a little? Did he act like nothing was between them or did he attempt to draw her out? Did he attempt a subtle and slow seduction or did he leave her be and let her come to him?

She would come to him…right?

He needed sleep. He had a class before work and he needed to be on top of his game. Yet he knew he wouldn't be able to get his body and his mind to shut down for a long while. Not with the thoughts that spun around his mind, not with Sansa upstairs probably just as restless as him. Maybe he'll burn in hell for not taking the out she was giving him. They could put their past to rest and move on with their lives in the company of others like Jon and Margaery (he made a face at that).

Maybe he will.

He just didn't care.

xxxxxxxx

Sansa didn't have dreams/memories that night. No, when she was finally able to fall into sleep – fitful as it was – she dreamt instead of having allowed Robb to kiss her. In her dream the kiss had erupted into something passionate and desperate, as if they couldn't get close enough. They'd gripped each other so tightly Sansa swore she could feel his hands on her, biting into her skin, when she awoke.

She dragged herself out of bed, going through the motions of preparing herself for the day while her body protested every single move she made. She braced herself for the possibility of seeing Robb on her way out the door and found she was almost disappointed when she didn't.

She scolded herself for such feelings on her way to school and when Jon met her before one of their classes and kissed her, she was even more disappointed not to feel the same heat in that kiss as she'd felt in her dream kiss with Robb.

She wanted to not go into the office that day. She wasn't ready to see Robb so soon – she needed time to think, to decompress, to sort it all out and put everything in their place. Robb was her family, not her lover, so he belonged in the box marked family. Jon was her boyfriend. He belonged in the box marked boyfriend. There could not be and would not be any blurred lines. There would be no leaping out of boxes to take the place of someone in another box.

She didn't just waltz into the office as she usually did. No, she Natasha Romanoved it and slipped in quietly, ears perked up, eyes scanning the perimeter. She didn't see Robb anywhere. Or Margaery. She passed by a couple paralegals with a smile and made her way to her father's office down the hall. His door was half-open. She peered inside and her eyes darted around. The coast was clear.

"If you're looking for Dad, he had a meeting."

Sansa jumped a mile at the sound of Robb's voice behind her. She turned around and glared at him.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing," she muttered.

"Hmmm…" he took a step toward her and she had no choice but to step back into her father's office. Once they were inside fully, Robb shut the door and folded his arms across his chest. "You look tired. Did you sleep well?"

"Did you?" she countered.

"Not at all."

"So, I've been thinking…"

"I'm sure you have." He sounded almost amused.

"We should just, you know, put a pin in all of it."

"All of what precisely?

"Our past."

"I see."

The way he looked at her with such intensity caused her to fidget under his gaze – she felt it like a caress. She averted her eyes, hating the way she reacted to him so easily. From her dreams/memories, it had always been like that.

"Maybe the accident was kind of like a second chance? A do-over if you will," she said.

"We had five years one month and one week worth of a do-over, Sansa. And yet here we are again."

"We're not really anywhere, Robb. I just happen to now be in possession of a few memories, that's all. That's really—" she jumped when he placed his hand on her shoulder. Her skin felt tight. She felt the gooseflesh rise. "What are you doing?"

"Proving a point. You were saying?" he asked. "That's really…?"

Oh, so he wanted to play, did he? Well, fine. Sansa clenched her jaw and steeled herself against his touch. "That's really—" He now slid his hand down her arm slowly. "All that's there and all we—" Now he took her hand and placed it on his chest. His heart was racing under her palm. She stared at her hand on his chest. "…that's there…"

" 'All we that's there'? Exactly what does that mean?" he asked. He then reached out and placed his hand over her heart. His eyes darkened. She ached for him to cover her breast with his hand. "Your heart races, too."

"I had a lot of coffee this morning."

"Did you dream of me last night?"

"Yes." Fuck. She hadn't meant to admit that.

"A memory?"

She swallowed hard and lifted her chin. "No."

His smile was slow, predatory. "Oh? What was it about? What were we doing?"

She was about to retort with something smart when they heard the door opening. They leaped apart and Sansa's felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Robb easily schooled his features into one of nonchalance and Sansa figured he'd had enough practice with that in the past. Like riding a bike for him, she supposed, to pretend that nothing was going on.

Sansa didn't remember much of that – certainly hadn't practiced subterfuge on that scale for a long time. When she saw her father walk in, eyes crinkling into a smile as he saw his two eldest in his office, Sansa was once again reminded why this path Robb seemed intent on putting them back on had to be put to an end.


	13. Chapter 13

_Sansa woke with a start. Where was she? What day was it? Was there a dragon in this room…?_

 _"_ _San? You okay?"_

 _A light came on and Sansa realized that she was in Robb's bedroom, in his bed, and she had no idea how she got there. Her head was at the foot of the bed while his was at the top. She stared at him. "What is even happening right now?"_

 _He sat up against his headboard. He wasn't wearing a t-shirt. Sansa tried not to stare at his chest. She had no business looking at his chest. She wanted to tell him to put on a t-shirt for cripes sake. She didn't like that she couldn't stop noticing these things lately. She also didn't like that she oftentimes couldn't help herself from ogling him when he'd walk around shirtless. He was her brother and therefore she should not be doing it._

 _He smiled gently at her. "You were sleepwalking," he said. "You came in my room and just grabbed a pillow and laid down at the foot of the bed the way we used to do when we were kids."_

 _She blinked. "I did?"_

 _"_ _Yup. You seemed to fall back to sleep so I let you. Then you started talking. Now, I understand the sleep talking thing, but what I don't understand is the princess dragon dream and how I'm part of it."_

 _Ah. The dream. Some of it was slipping away from her now, but she remembered a tower, being trapped in said tower and Robb coming to rescue her and some bad dragon that was trying to get to her before he did. She didn't feel she could tell him that though. It felt like maybe she would cross a few lines by telling him he'd been her knight in shining armor in her dream and that she'd been in love with him in it and him with her._

 _"_ _It's already gone," she lied._

 _"_ _I see." He climbed off the bed, grabbed his pillow and placed it down next to hers. Then he lay down beside her. "I had just shut out the light when I felt the bed jerk. I figured you'd just woken yourself up." He reached out and brushed some hair from her face. Sansa tried not to lean into his touch. "You okay?"_

 _She yawned and nodded. "I'm okay. I don't know what any of that was about." She rolled onto her back. "I should probably get up and go back to my room."_

 _"_ _You can stay," he said softly. "If you want."_

 _She turned her head to look at him. "Yeah?"_

 _He nodded. "You looked a little spooked when you came in here the first time, and then just now after you woke up. Maybe this is like those times when we were kids and you'd ask me to chase the monsters in your closet away. Maybe you need to stay in here so I can chase your nightmares away."_

 _The monsters in her head weren't of the large and scaly clawed kind anymore. No, the monsters in her head were of the 'I think I'm in love with my brother' kind. But, she couldn't seem to stop herself from wanting to be near him._

 _She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that her relationship with Robb had never been combative like hers was with Arya. If she and Robb had argued like cats and dogs would she be having all these feelings for him otherwise? But if she did argue with him like she did Arya, then she might not feel as whole as she did when she was with Robb._

 _"_ _I'll stay," she said. He smiled at her, his blue eyes so gentle. Then he sighed and started to get up. Sansa's hand jutted out and she grabbed his arm. He looked down at her hand and then at her. "Can you…stay…here?" she asked._

 _He nodded, looking solemn and like something else she couldn't put a name to. "Yes," he said. "Let me just get the light."_

 _"_ _Okay."_

 _She could barely make him out in the darkness when he lay back down next to her but she felt his hand very near hers when he did lay down. She thought maybe she should move hers…but then she didn't._

Sansa came out of her memory and tapped her forehead repeatedly as she said, "I am so sick of your shit." Then she closed her eyes and continued to tap it while singing, "Memories, like the corner of my mind…"

"What are you doing?"

Sansa's eyes popped open with her fingers pressed to her forehead, and she found Margaery and Robb standing in the doorway. Margaery was the one that had spoken. Robb looked concerned.

"Were you just hitting yourself in the forehead while singing a song from Cats?" Margaery asked.

"Yup."

"Are you okay, Sansa?" Robb asked. "Feeling all right?"

"Peachy. With a side of keen."

"You're always so clever, Sansa," Margaery said with a bit of a cackle as she poured herself a coffee. "I wish I could be as clever as you."

Robb sat down across from Sansa and looked at her quizzically. She ignored him.

"You know what we should do?" Margaery said as she put her coffee cup on the table and then sat down. "We should go on a double date. Me and Robb and you and Jon."

Sansa' eyes went wide. "That sounds like a phenomenal—"

"Right?"

"—ly bad idea," Sansa finished.

Margaery pouted. It was not cute. "Why?"

"The last thing I want to do is go on a date with my big brother there, just like I'm sure the last thing Robb wants to do is go on a date with his little sister." She looked at Robb and hoped he saw the 'You-better-fucking-agree-with-me' look in her eyes. "Right, big brother?"

"Robb will do what I tell him to do," Margaery said with a smirk.

 _Oh, no. She did not._ "I'm sorry, but Robb is a grown man and you're not the boss of him. He'll do whatever he wants and you're not going to tell him what he will or will not do. _Ever_." Sansa snapped. Margaery's jaw dropped. "Why don't we ask Robb what he wants to do?" Sansa said and looked at him. "Robb, what would you like to do?"

His smile was wide as he looked at her, his eyes tender. "I want to go out with you . . . and Jon."

"Really?" Sansa deadpanned.

"I think I should get to know Jon better, don't you?" Robb asked.

"Yeah. It keeps me up at night thinking of how little you know him."

He laughed. "I thought it might. I mean, I know how important my opinion is to you. Just as yours is to me."

"So is it decided then?" Margaery asked. "Or did you want to bite my fucking head off for something else?"

"Margaery," Robb said and it sounded like a warning.

"What?" Margaery demanded defensively. "You were sitting right here when she snapped at me, right? And for no reason? I was just teasing."

 _No, you weren't_ , Sansa thought. "You know what, I'm done here. I'm just going to go home and take a bath with the toaster."

"Sansa, don't make jokes like that," Robb scolded her.

She shrugged and walked out of the breakroom and made her way down to her father's office to grab her things. He was in another meeting. She shut the door behind her and just sat for a minute to cool her temper. When Margaery made Robb sound like some kind of dog she could just order about it had really pissed her off. She didn't like Margaery talking about him that way. He didn't deserve that. No matter what she and Robb were now or in the past, Sansa did not want some girl ordering him about like that and treating him like he didn't matter.

She supposed it didn't help that she was jealous of Margaery. She hated that Margaery had blown him, hated that he was still dating her even if the only reason he was doing it was so he could appease their mother, and she hated that her memories were coming faster and faster now and stirring up all these feelings for him.

The door opened and in walked Robb. He shut the door behind him and Sansa just looked at him, trying to remain calm though she felt the monster inside her begin to scratch and claw at her, wanting badly to be released.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "Did you have another memory?"

Sansa got to her feet. She was going to do something stupid. Something that was the very opposite of what she'd been telling Robb they should do. Desperation made one do crazy things though, right? It made you act out, do things out of character, do things you know you shouldn't do and maybe, _just maybe,_ if she just did it she would find that there was absofuckinglutely nothing there. That all that heat and passion in her dreams and in her memories now meant nothing. They were different people now. She knew she certainly was. So if she did the crazy thing and discovered there was much ado about nothing then they could both put it to bed. No pun intended.

Robb seemed to know what she was about seconds before she did it. His eyes darkened and he took a step toward her, reached for her, and Sansa reached for him and then their bodies collided. Their hands grasped frantically at one another and their lips met in a kiss that Sansa was pretty sure could end all kisses in the entire fucking world.

It was hot and passionate and didn't do exactly what Sansa had hoped it would. She'd hoped it would fall flat, that there would be nothing there. Instead, she felt as though she was going to burst into flames. They didn't just kiss each other, they _devoured_ each other. The whole world fell away and it was just Robb. Robb in her arms. Robb's lips on hers. Robb's tongue touching her own.

Her feet left the ground as he lifted her and Sansa wrapped her legs around his waist without having to think about it. Their lips didn't part once as Robb pushed her against the wall behind her and continued kissing her. They nipped and sucked and licked at each other. Robb's hands dug into her ass where he held her and Sansa's hands were in his silken locks. She throbbed with need between her legs. He was hard against her.

They could have kissed for hours or seconds – Sansa just didn't know how long, all she knew was that she was nearing the point where she needed to take in some air. It was just that she couldn't bring herself to stop kissing him.

The voices outside their father's office put an end to it. Robb let her go and went to sit behind his father's desk. Sansa, in flight mode, grabbed her stuff and left the building. She felt as though she was outside her body. There was a roaring in her eyes. She couldn't think. She could only _feel_.

When she got to her car she didn't even remember walking to it. All she could see and feel was Robb. She stared out her windshield, hands on the wheel, and thought - _I just made a huge mistake_.


	14. Chapter 14

**a/n: So, are we still reading this or...?**

It was sheer force of will that kept Robb from going after Sansa to continue what she'd started. Well, first it was the fear that whoever was outside their father's office was on their way inside, but then when no one came in, Robb just wanted to go after her.

As soon as he'd seen that look she would get on her face when she was about to kiss him or initiate a seduction (not that Sansa ever had to do much seducing), Robb hadn't been able to stop himself from reaching for her. Kissing her and holding her again had been heaven. He'd missed her so much, wanted her so badly, and loved her so greatly, that he could scarce contain himself at the moment. He certainly couldn't concentrate at work. He felt like a live wire. His whole body ached for her. And now she was nowhere near him where he could go find her and kiss her again. Claim her. Make her his again. He just wanted to wind himself around her and never let go.

He suffered through the next couple hours and knew he hadn't gotten much done. Today was not a productive day at work for Robb. He didn't care. He just wanted to get home and…

And nothing. He could do absolutely nothing with the family around. They were surrounded, and he could not and would not take any chances of them being found out again. If there was even anything to find out…

Okay, so Sansa had kissed him, but that didn't mean she was ready to pick up where they'd left off. Everything was still up in the air. What he needed to do was wait for her. Let her lead. Hopefully, she didn't make him wait too long.

xxxxxxx

Sansa hid in her room that night. She sat on her bed, her laptop on her lap and a document open to work on a paper and yet she hadn't written a word. All she could think about was Robb and that kiss they'd shared.

It had terrified her. The intensity, the passion, the heat – all of it. Her entire body had come alive, her senses had been on overload. She had never felt such wanting, such desire – not that she remembered anyway. It was scary.

And she wanted to do it again.

It was all she could think about.

She pushed her laptop off her lap and went downstairs to get a drink. That's what she told herself anyway. When she got to the kitchen, she found Robb at the sink pouring a glass of water and Arya at the kitchen table. Her sister's back was to them.

Robb turned his head and looked at her and his expression suffused immediately with desire. Sansa felt a throb begin between her legs. _Throb…Robb. Ha,_ she thought.

She wanted to run and stay at the same time. Wanted them to find a place to be alone and wanted to have everyone around them so that could never happen. She was about to run back up the stairs when Arya looked over at her and arched a brow. "What the hell are you doing just standing there?" she asked.

Sansa didn't answer her. She moved further into the kitchen and went to the fridge, making sure not to look at Robb. She felt his eyes on her though and her hands shook. She grabbed an apple from the crisper and finally looked at him. His eyes dropped to her lips and she inwardly moaned. She passed by him on legs that felt like jelly and went back to her room.

Long after everyone in the house had gone to bed, Sansa lay there knowing that Robb was awake. She knew he was waiting for her and she didn't know what to do about it. What she wanted to do and what she knew she should do were at war within her.

She was so frustrated she wanted to cry. She never should have kissed. Never should have opened that box, door, whatever the fuck it was.

Damn their past. Damn that accident. Damn her memories. Damn him for coming home. Just damn everything!

Sansa imagined herself getting up out of the bed, opening her door, going down stairs to the kitchen, then down to the basement into Robb's room. She imagined having him take her in his arms, kiss her, carry her to bed and sate this ache between her thighs. She knew now she'd had sex before but she didn't really remember it. Was it like riding a bike? Would it come back to her?

 _Jesus Christ, what the fuck am I thinking? Have I forgotten that he's my brother? Have I forgotten how messy this is and how I can't do it because he's my brother? What the fuck am I thinking?!_

She wasn't. She wasn't thinking at all. She was just feeling. Feeling how she wanted him and couldn't stop thinking about it and wanting it. Maybe if they just did it once…

 _Yeah, and that's what I said about the kissing._

Sansa was pretty sure that by the time she finally did fall asleep, Robb had too.

xxxxxx

Robb was ready to say 'fuck it' when it came to waiting for Sansa to make a move. He'd waited up for her for God knew how long the night before, hoping she would come to him. He had been almost certain she would judging by the way she'd looked at him when they'd run into each other in the kitchen.

He'd paced. He'd ran up the stairs and stood in the doorway to the basement convincing himself he could manage to get up to her room without anyone hearing him. Once he'd ran up thinking he heard her and found Bran getting a snack.

She didn't come to work that afternoon and by the time he made it home, she wasn't there. Over the course of conversation he found out she'd gone to some lecture with Jon at school, and from there planned to go to the library.

Well.

Robb supposed a trip to the library was in order.

He knew he should wait for her, but he had been waiting for her for five fucking years. He couldn't do it anymore. He loved Sansa. He wanted Sansa. And he was going to get Sansa.

He told his family he was going out to run a few errands and no one batted an eye. Catelyn, it seemed, had been lulled into a false sense of security. That security had names: Jon Snow and Margaery Tyrell. She sang Jon praises, which often made Robb want to scream, but fine. He was pretty sure that Sansa could have brought home Ted Bundy, but as long as it wasn't Robb, she would have been thrilled.

Now here he was, heading into the public library in search of his sister. He'd figure out what to do after he saw her. He felt a little crazed as he circled the library in search of her. It rather reminded him of the old days when they had to sneak around and be inventive about how they could be together. The desperation then was different from now though. Then, he'd known she was his. Now he didn't know where the fuck he stood with her.

He rounded the stacks on the second floor and stopped abruptly. She was with Jon.

Fuck.

Robb left before either of them could see him. He nearly punched the window of his car but figured a broken hand would not be at all helpful.

xxxxxxxxx

Sansa wondered later if she knew what was going to happen when Jon asked her if she wanted to go back to his dorm room and watch a movie. They'd hung out and watched movies plenty of times with nothing sexual happening at all. But then they also hadn't been dating. Certain things were expected to happen when you dated someone.

Jon had asked her if she was sure. Of course she thought of Robb. And in doing so she had sealed her fate. And Jon's.

It had been…nice. Jon had made sure she'd had an orgasm – he'd gone down on her afterwards to ensure that, and that was quite considerate of him.

"Will you stay tonight?" he asked hopefully as he wrapped her up in his arms and held her close.

It was midnight now and she was tired. But, she didn't want to stay. She wasn't sure if it was Jon's arms that felt too tight around her, if his room was just too stuffy, or if it was the disappointment settling in that having sex with Jon had done nothing to drive Robb from her thoughts and her…yeah.

"No, I should get home," she said. "I don't really want to do the walk of shame in the morning back to my car."

"I could lend you a shirt."

She laughed and pushed out of his arms. She sat up and reached for her bra and her shirt on the floor. Jon slid a hand down her bare back. "Sansa, don't go," he said softly.

"Next time. I'll even bring a change of clothes."

He sighed. "Are you sure it was all right for you?"

After she finished fastening her bra she looked over at him. "Are you being insecure?"

He looked hurt. "Yes."

"I'm sorry, I just – Jon, it's not that. It's just that I don't sleep well in any bed but my own."

"Then perhaps I should be the one spending the night at your place next time."

She smiled while all the while thinking that would never happen. Her father would never stand for it and Robb…

She slipped her shirt on and then got up and quickly put on her panties and jeans. Jon got up in the meantime and slipped on his jeans. He pulled her to him and kissed her. "I'm falling in love with you, Sansa," he whispered. Her eyes went wide and she just stared at him, at a complete loss for words. "I just wanted you to know."

She kissed him. It was her way of apologizing.

xxxxxxx

Sansa let herself in the house as quietly as possible and was on her way to the stairs when she heard the door to the basement open.

Robb stood there and rubbed his eyes. He looked at her in confusion. "Did you just get home?"

"Uh…yeah."

He looked more awake now. "You just got home _now_?"

"Yeah, just now. So I'm going—"

"What the hell have you been doing until almost one o' clock in the morning?" he demanded.

She bristled at that. "None of your business," she snapped.

He pointed at her. "No, you don't get to say that to me. You don't get to pretend that I don't have a right to know what—"

"You _don't_ have the right. You're not my keeper. You're not…"

He took a step toward her. "Your lover?"

"You're not that," she said and lifted her chin.

He came closer and stopped right in front of her. "You kissed me like you were," he whispered.

"That was…a mistake."

He arched a brow. "Was it now?"

She nodded. "Yes. And it won't happen again."

He leaned in closer and then stopped. "You smell like another man."

"That other man would be my boyfriend."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"I told you that's none of your business."

He gripped her arms. "Did you sleep with him?" he hissed.

"I'm not going to answer—"

He walked her back to the wall and pushed her against it. "You did, didn't you? You had sex with him."

"Robb, don't—"

He kissed her and a sound left Sansa that sounded somewhere between a moan and a cry. She clutched at him he clutched at her, pulled her against him as though he was trying to push inside her skin.

"Sansa," he gasped. "Sansa."

Her hands gripped his curls, needing him even closer. "Robb," she whimpered.

And then he was pulling away. Sansa just stared at him wide-eyed and full of need.

His jaw was clenched tight. "Did you cling to him the way you just clung to me? Did you kiss him the way you just kissed me? Did you want him as much as I know you want me right now?"

She didn't answer him, but then even if she'd planned to it didn't matter. Robb walked away from her before she could even open her mouth.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Robb couldn't even look at Sansa. For the next few days he was the one doing the avoiding for once. Every time he thought of Jon with his hands on Sansa he wanted to find Jon and punch him in the face. When he thought of Sansa letting Jon touch her so intimately, letting him inside her...

Robb had been her first and her only. Sure he'd had girls before her in his attempt to…

Okay. He got it. She wasn't on the same page as him. Having sex with Jon was an attempt for her to see if there could be something with someone else. He would have thought that after all this time with Jon she would have figured out that there wasn't much of anything, but Sansa had always been incredibly stubborn.

She wasn't there with him yet. She was just discovering her feelings as her memories came. She needed time. He had to be patient.

These were the things he told himself like a mantra running over and over in his mind. But when he saw Sansa, he saw someone else's hands on her the way he used to touch her and his gut would twist all over again.

How could she kiss him like that and then have sex with someone else?

 _Because you're her brother._

He'd never wanted to be adopted more.

He couldn't bring himself to touch Margaery, and he was rather impressed with himself that he'd managed to keep from having to sleep with her. She initiated any kisses between them and he didn't get carried away with them. He felt nothing for her so how could he? He certainly didn't kiss her the way he'd kissed Sansa. He did the minimal to keep up appearances. Margaery just thought he was shy. Robb let her think what she wanted.

Currently, she was onto planning that double date with Sansa and Jon. Robb told her he didn't want to do it anymore, but Margaery was like a dog with a bone. He figured if Sansa shut her down again with it, she would stop.

But then one afternoon when Jon showed up at work to drop off some books Sansa had left in his car, Margaery cornered him and he seemed to think it was a good idea. That struck Robb as odd. Jon was the quiet sort; he didn't seem like the type to want to do something like that.

Robb kept his distance from Jon because he was pretty certain if Jon came near him, he was going to make good on his urge to punch him. Jon left, Margaery went upstairs, and Sansa marched into their father's office and shut the door behind her. Robb looked up from their father's desk and kept his face in a neutral mask. He didn't say anything. If Sansa wanted something from him she was going to have to be very clear what it was.

"Tell her you don't want to do this," she said.

"Do what?" he asked, intentionally playing stupid.

She rolled her eyes. "This stupid double date idea. Just tell her you don't want to."

"I did. But then your boy came around and agreed to it."

She arched a brow and the corner of her mouth turned up into a smirk. "My _boy_?" She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Do you know the reason _why_ he agreed, Robb? Because he thinks you hate him and he wants to spend time with you in the hopes that you'll end up liking him."

Robb sat back. "Well, he's right. I do hate him. And no amount of time I spend with him is going to change that."

"He's a good person, Robb."

"And he's fucking the woman I love."

"And Margaery gave you a blow job," she retorted.

"So you can relate then because I'm the man you love."

"I never said that."

"But it bothers you that she sucked me off."

She folded her arms across her chest. "I find it a bit unfair that you can let her do that and I'm supposed to be okay with it—"

"I never said that."

"—but I can't sleep with Jon."

Robb rubbed a hand down his face in frustration. "We're talking in circles. You don't want to admit that you have any feelings for me, and then in the next breath you're all but admitting you do by the sheer fact that you're jealous of Margaery. We're never going to get anywhere if you can't just be honest with yourself and honest with me."

"There's nowhere to get, Robb. It doesn't matter if I'm honest with my feelings, it doesn't matter what I want or what you want – none of that matters. What matters are the cold hard facts: you are my brother, I am your sister and it can't happen…again."

"I beg to differ."

"I can walk out of this office and plant a big ol' kiss on Jon and no one would bat an eyelash. I can't do that with you, Robb. I can't hold your hand – shit, I can't even go down to your room and see you in our own home because Mom knows and would think something is going on! And if Dad found out? He'd flip his shit. Can you imagine the looks of disgust? Arya would no doubt blame me, Bran might blame you, Rickon wouldn't know what to do with either of us…Jon wouldn't want to have anything to do with me. I can't even imagine how he would feel knowing…" She shook her head. "Have you thought about any of this?"

"Yes, I have. This was something we'd been over many times before."

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh, well, I'm so sorry then that I'm just repeating old conversations and worries from before that I don't remember," she said sarcastically.

Robb sighed. "Sansa, I wasn't implying—"

"Yes, you were. You were implying that because we've already been down that road before it's not a big deal to you now and therefore any of my concerns are just silly. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, right? I'm so sorry that my memory loss is such an inconvenience to you now. I'm sorry that we got into an accident because the last time we were together I was apparently so desperate to protect us that I dated some asshole."

In the middle of her rant, Robb had gotten up and came over to her. He stood in front of her now and brushed the tears that fell from her eyes away. "Sweetheart, calm down," he murmured. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you feel like your concerns don't matter. They do. I'm just – I'm terrified right now, Sansa." He cupped her face in his hands and drew her closer to him. "I love you so much, sweetheart. Being apart from you is tearing me apart…" He kissed her then and she let him. She let him because it was what she wanted and she didn't know how to make it stop. As soon as he touched her she saw nothing but Robb and felt nothing else but Robb. It was downright scary. And it was also not helpful.

Sansa pushed away from him and walked to the other side of the room. He clouded her thoughts too easily. The last time she got lost in him they ended up wrapped around a tree. Not to mention the fact that he was her _brother_ and it was _wrong_.

"We had plans, you and I," he said softly. "Have you remembered them?"

She looked at him and shook her head. "No. What plans did we have?"

"We planned to go away. Before the accident we had both applied to school in California. We were going to attend So Cal together and live together while we were there. Behind closed doors, you and I would have been free to be together."

"And then?"

"And then we were going to go overseas, somewhere in Europe, and live together there, too. I had even thought I would change my name so that no one would know we were related. Our plan was to be together there the way we couldn't here."

"And our family?"

"They didn't need to know."

She furrowed her brow. "Wouldn't they wonder?"

"A brother and a sister being in love and living as lovers would have been the last thing they would have thought."

She frowned. "They might have still thought it unnatural that we would choose to move so far away together. And if neither of us dated…"

"It's easy enough to pretend and make up a story or two."

"Ah, I see. Stories and lies and subterfuge."

"You're overthinking it."

"I think you're underthinking it," she countered.

"To be with you, Sansa, I would do what I had to do. You are the other half of my soul and my heart. Without you I am incomplete."

"Maybe you just need to try with Margaery—"

He barked out a laugh that was decidedly bitter. "No. I don't want to do anything with Margaery. She is merely a beard. Her presence in my life keeps Mom from suspecting."

"But—"

"But nothing. I let her suck me off because it had been a long time and being around you again was hard. Especially with you not remembering us...I thought of you the entire time."

"I really didn't need to know that."

"Sorry, but it's true. Sansa, I've tried. When I was in California, I dated, I fucked women – I tried. I tried before you, too."

She cocked her head to the side. "You did?"

"Yes. I dated a lot and slept around hoping that someone would fill that void that only you could fill. It didn't work. I tried and I tried and I tried, and I just can't do it anymore, Sansa."

"Did I? Try that is?"

"No. There was some idiot your freshman year of high school that you kissed at a dance."

"An idiot, huh?" she said in amusement.

He looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck. "I told him if I saw his hands within an inch of your ass I would beat the shit out of him."

"So, you were reasonable about it," she deadpanned, and then laughed.

Robb laughed with her. "Of course." He came over to her and she straightened, holding herself ramrod straight as though steeling herself for his touch.

"Do you love me, Sansa? The way a woman loves a man?"

"I don't…I don't know. I have these memories and I feel what I felt and it's colliding with now, here, with you…"

"Do you want me?"

"Robb, don't."

"Do you?"

"You know I do," she whispered.

"We can sort the rest out."

"Sort the rest out? You make it sound like I'm borrowing money or we're planning a road trip. Robb, we're talking about _incest_. We're talking about changing our entire lives, the lives of our family and friends—"

He kissed her again. Hungrily and with urgency. Sansa responded in kind. She was powerless to do anything else. When Robb made the call, she was helpless to do anything but answer. She was aware that she was _technically_ cheating on Jon. It was an odd sort of feeling probably because it was an odd situation, but she almost felt as though Jon was the one on the outside. He was the one she was dating, but it was more that she was _trying_ to get past Robb with him. Her desperation to stop her feelings for Robb had pushed her into Jon's arms, but she didn't… _fit_ in his arms. But she wanted to. So badly.

Yet here she was, kissing Robb again.

"If you tell me to go away – if it's what you want and you're _absolutely_ certain," Robb rasped against her lips, "I will go. I love you, Sansa, and as much as I want to be with you, I will not stand in your way if you think you can be happy with Jon."

"No, don't – don't leave me," she said desperately, fiercely. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. Just the thought of it ripped her heart open. "Don't go, Robb."

"Then, my love, you have a choice to make."

Voices outside the door split them apart again and it was moments like this that drove the fact home that she and Robb were impossible. But the ache in her heart and the need in her body were not in agreement.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Friday night.

Or, as Margaery had started calling it, Double Date Night.

Still, it was a night that both Robb and Sansa were dreading. Robb wasn't sure how he was going to watch Sansa and Jon together. It made his top lip pull back in a sneer just thinking about it. And, he was pretty sure Sansa was harboring the same problem in regards to him and Margaery.

However, despite the night they were being forced to endure, a boon had been granted: Ned had announced that afternoon to Robb and Sansa that he was surprising their mother with a trip away for the weekend to celebrate their anniversary a couple weeks early.

Robb felt as though a two ton weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Despite the fact that Catelyn had backed off considering she thought Robb was oh so devoted to Margaery and Sansa was oh so devoted to Jon and still without her memories, Robb still felt the weight of her gaze any time he and Sansa were even so much as in the same room at the same time.

It would be a lot easier to navigate some alone time between him and Sansa without their mother around. Robb just hoped Sansa would be amenable to that. They hadn't interacted much since that day in the office when she'd begged him not to leave her.

Sansa needed time. When she was ready to come to him, she would. Robb was certain of it. Even if it was just to talk. He had hope and he was going to cling to that with every fiber of his being.

So, that night while he was getting ready for the double date, he dressed with Sansa in mind. He wore black jeans, a white scooped neck t-shirt with a print on it, a black suit jacket, and black shoes.

He had just put on some cologne when Catelyn came through his open door. "Oh, Robb. You look so handsome."

Robb grinned. "Think Margaery will approve?" _And by Margaery I mean Sansa._

"I do." Catelyn came over and adjusted his collar the way she used to do when he was a boy. When she was done she looked at him and said, "I'm quite happy that you're dating Margaery. You both seem very happy together."

 _Either I'm a damn good actor or you're seeing what you want to see,_ Robb thought. Either way it worked to his benefit and he was fine with that. "We are."

"I still worry."

Robb sighed. "Mother—"

"I can't help it. I know that you are with Margaery and that Sansa seems quite happy with Jon, but with your father and I go away this weekend…"

"Mother, nothing is going to happen," Robb said and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Sansa and I don't have anything between us. She barely knows me. She is consumed with Jon, and I am the furthest thing from her mind. The only reason we are going out tonight together was because Margaery thought it would be a great idea."

"You can't blame me for worrying still. After what you two were doing…"

"And she still has no idea about any of it."

Catelyn nodded. "Okay."

"Hey."

Sansa stood in the doorway. Robb tried to react to how beautiful she looked. She wore dark jeans that Robb thought might have been painted on, a silver top that hinted at cleavage, and a fitted jacket over it. She walked further in the room and Robb noticed that the silver top rode up a bit causing some of her flat belly to show. He wanted to put his hand on that patch of skin so badly his palms ached.

"Wow, big brother, don't you clean up nice?" she teased.

Her makeup was smoky and her lips red and Robb just wanted to fucking kiss her.

"I try," he said smoothly. "Jon here?"

"He is. You ready or do you need some more time to primp?"

He shot her a look. "Very funny."

She grinned and kissed their Mother on the cheek. "I'm going to go up and save Jon from Dad and Bran. See you when you come back, Mom."

Catelyn smiled and hugged her. "Have a good time tonight, honey."

"Oh sure. I get to go out with my boyfriend with my brother tagging along," Sansa said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, I'm in the same boat, just the other way around," he told her.

She smiled at their mother, winked, and was off.

"I'd better go," Robb told his mother once Sansa was out of earshot. "Listen, don't worry about anything. There will be no raging parties, and there will be nothing going on between Sansa and I, okay?"

Catelyn nodded, smiled, and hugged him again before they went up the stairs.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sansa had insisted on sitting in the backseat with Jon on their way to pick up Margaery. Robb found the trip a test of his patience. Even Jon holding Sansa's hand in the backseat was too much for Robb.

Meanwhile Jon kept trying to engage Robb in conversation. He asked if Robb liked football, what TV shows he watched, if he liked to read, and what classes he was taking. Robb had to hand it to him for trying. Under other circumstances he would probably like Jon very much.

And then there was Margaery. She was…Margaery, but more "on" than usual. She dominated the conversation from the second she got in the car, telling them all some story about what happened when she went to get her nails done after work. Everything with her was a drama. Robb found it exhausting.

He only half listened. His mind was already at the end of the night when Margaery was home and Jon was gone and it was just him and Sansa alone. Sure, Rickon, Bran, and Arya were around, but they wouldn't think anything of Robb and Sansa hanging out together in Robb's room.

Robb realized he was probably get a bit ahead of himself.

They finally got the Hibachi restaurant they'd all agreed on going to and Robb had to remember to stay with Margaery. She was his date, not Sansa. When he saw Jon take Sansa's hand as they headed into the restrauant, Robb felt the frustration of not being able to do those things with her.

By some stroke of luck, and not by Robb's design at all, he and Sansa ended up sitting next to each other in the middle with Jon on Sansa's other side and Margaery on Robb's other side.

Their knees touched under the table – again, not by design, but because they were a bit packed in. _Maybe the night won't be so bad after all_ , he thought.

"What's good here?" Robb asked Sansa.

"I'll tell you," Margaery said and leaned over, making sure that her cleavage was on display for him over his arm.

Robb listened to Margaery's suggestions and when she sat back, he turned his head toward Sansa and found her engaged in conversation with Jon, her head turned his way. The cascade of red hair was right there in front of him and Robb just wanted to reach out and run his fingers through it.

The waitress came over then to take their drink orders and Sansa surprised Robb by ordering a Scorpion Bowl for one. Jon ordered a beer, and Robb a water.

"Ooh, can we get a Scorpion Bowl, baby?" Margaery asked Robb and slung her arm through Robb's at the table. "Pwetty pwease?"

"I'm driving," he reminded her. "So no."

"Fine, then I'm going to get one. If Sansa is going to get shit-faced, then I am too." She leaned across Robb and he leaned back a little to give her room. "Hey, Sansa," she said loudly.

Sansa turned and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Why don't we match each other on drinks?"

Sansa shrugged. "Whatever."

"I am going drink you under the table, Little Miss Priss," Margaery announced.

Sansa ignored her and shrugged off her jacket. Robb's mouth went dry. Her silver top was sleeveless. So much skin right there to run his hand along…

Sansa leaned to the side and bent her head his way. Robb leaned into her so he could hear her. "You don't mind that I'm getting a Scorpion Bowl, do you?" she asked him.

He inhaled her sweet scent and held back a groan. "Not at all."

She smiled and then angled her body slightly towards Jon.

Their knees no longer touched.

More people came to share the table with them and Margaery was sure to capture the attention of everyone else in attendance while hanging onto Robb. They ordered their food and the soup came, followed in quick succession by the salad.

The food was good so far, but everything else went to shit. Robb just wanted this night to end. Margaery was proving more obnoxious than usual and he barely got a chance to talk to Sansa.

Meanwhile, Sansa had finished one Scorpion Bowl and was working her way through another – which meant that Margaery ordered another, too.

And then Margaery's hand dropped to Robb's lap and went right for his dick. He jumped and tried discreetly to dislodge her hand from his crotch while she laughed and cooed dirty things in his ear.

"Margaery, stop it," he muttered angrily. "Get your fucking hand off me."

"Oh, come on, baby. Loosen up and have some fun…"

A cherry went sailing past Robb's face and bopped Margaery in the forehead. He heard Sansa giggle beside him.

Margaery growled and took her away from Robb's crotch. "What the _fuck_ , Sansa?"

Sansa looked at her, the picture of innocence. "What?"

Robb bit back a smile. And then Margaery fished into her Scorpion Bowl and got out a cherry. Robb grabbed it from her and popped it in his mouth.

Margaery narrowed her eyes at him and then grabbed his face and kissed him. Robb reared back and pushed her off him as delicately as he could.

Some frat boy on the other side of the table shouted jovially, "Get a room!"

Robb ignored him and tried to reason with an inebriated Margaery that there was a time and a place for everything and grabbing his crotch and starting a food fight in the middle of a restaurant was not the time nor the place.

"She started it," Margaery said and stabbed her finger in Sansa's direction.

"I'm ending it," Robb told her sternly. He looked over at Sansa. "Behave, Sansa."

Sansa glared at him. "You're not the boss of me," she slurred. She attempted to stand and both Jon and Robb reached for her before she toppled over. She batted their hands away. "I'm just going to the bathroom," she said. "Relax."

Jon went with her to make sure she didn't get lost or fall on her face, despite Sansa's protestations that she was fine.

"Why don't you love me?" Margaery demanded.

Robb blinked at her. "What?"

"You won't even fuck me," she now whined. "Why won't you fuck me?"

"Margaery, not now," Robb said through clenched teeth. People were looking and there were even a few kids around.

Thankfully, the chef coming out to prepare the food diverted her attention. Robb ordered a beer. He could have at least a beer. He _deserved_ a beer.

Sansa and Jon came back and thankfully the rest of the meal went quietly. Peacefully.

But then Margaery ordered a Pina Colada and Sansa ordered a water.

"Hey," Margaery practically shouted to Sansa. "You were supposed to order a Pina Coloda like me."

"I don't want one," Sansa said with a shrug.

"Whatsa matter? Can't handle your liquor?" Margaery slurred.

Sansa turned her back on both Robb and Margaery and Margaery did not like that. She flung a piece of zucchini at Sansa before Robb could stop her. When Sansa turned around, glaring, Robb said it was him and it an accident.

"Don't cover for me!" Margaery growled.

"All right, I think we're done here," he muttered and motioned for the waitress to bring the check.

"Jon wants to help pay," Sansa told him.

"I got it," Robb muttered.

"Robb—"

"I got it, Sansa," Robb snapped.

"Yikes," she muttered and turned her back on him.

Robb sighed and rubbed his forehead. He had a headache.

This had gone about as well as he'd expected. No, that wasn't true. It was worse. Much worse. Sansa ignored him, Margaery was acting like an angry and inappropriate drunken ass – he just wanted to get the fuck out of there.

Once they'd paid and gotten outside, Robb thought this would be the end of it. Sansa was leaning on Jon for support and saying she wanted to go home.

"We are going home," Robb said aloud.

"I don't wanna go home!" Margaery exclaimed. "Why do we have to do what Sansa wants to do? If she wants to go home, fine, let her. She's been a bitch all night anyway."

"Margaery," Robb said warningly.

Sansa pushed away form Jon and turned to face Margaery. "I've been a bitch? You've been a fucking cow the whole goddamn night. You haven't shut the fuck up since we got you. You've hung off my brother like a cheap whore, you fucking groped him in public, and you've been incredibly inappropriate. Don't tell me that I've been the bitch all night. That was all you, honey."

Margarey lunged after her and Robb went to grab her to stop her while Jon moved to grab Sansa. They were both too late. Margaery smacked Sansa across the face. Jon grabbed Sansa and pulled her away before she could retaliate and by the fire in her eyes, she wanted to do just that. Robb grabbed Margaery's arm and pulled her to the car. He opened the passenger side door and ordered her to get inside. Margaery whimpered at looked at him as though she wanted his sympathy – as though she just hadn't _hit_ Sansa across the face.

"Jon, take me home," Sansa said.

"Sansa, honey," Jon began calmly, "Why don't we get in the car—"

Sansa cut Jon off. "I don't want to get in the car. Call a cab. No, wait. _I'll_ call cab." She started to dig in her purse for her phone.

"Sansa, get in the car," Robb said furiously. "Just get in the goddamn car."

By some stroke of luck, she listened.

The ride to the Stark's was quiet. Robb dropped Jon and Sansa off and then made the long trek to Margaery's. He was going to walk her inside, get her tucked into bed, and then he was going home and hoping that by some small miracle, Sansa was still there and Jon was not.

xxxxxxxxx

An hour and a half later, Robb let himself in the house. There was a note from Arya, Bran, and Rickon on the table. They were all gone for the night.

Perfect. He just hoped Sansa was home.

He kicked off his shoes in the kitchen, pulled off his jacket and threw it over a chair. He went into the living room – she wasn't there. Then he ran up to her bedroom. His heart dropped. She wasn't there either.

Disappointed and pissed off at how horrible the night went, at how long it took him to get Margaery to fucking go to sleep instead of trying to initiate sex, and at Jon for taking Sansa to his dorm, Robb pounded down the stairs and shoved his door open.

And there she was. His sweet girl was sitting on his bed in light blue pajama bottoms and a white tank top with a bowl of chips in her lap and his remote control for the TV in her hand.

Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her face was scrubbed clean. She looked over at him. "Hey, _The Avengers_ is on. Watch it with me?"


	17. Chapter 17

Robb didn't answer Sansa. Not with words anyway. Instead, he marched over to the bed and sat down facing her. He took her face in his hands and kissed her the way he'd longed to do all night. "God, Sansa," he murmured and pressed hot, wet kisses along her jaw and then down her neck.

"This isn't watching the movie," she whispered. "I had the purest of intentions here…"

"By waiting for me in my bed?" he chuckled as he then picked up the bowl in her lap and transported it to his nightstand.

"You have a point," she murmured as she stretched her legs out on the bed and Robb climbed over her. He braced himself over her and kissed her again. She fisted his shirt in her hands and pulled on him. Robb lay down against her and she spread her legs so that he could lay between them. He kissed her slowly, as though they had all the time in the world. He ended the kiss by biting on her bottom lip lightly.

She sighed the sigh of the contended and ran her hand through his curls. "I wanted to yank on these all night," she said.

He groaned, thinking not only of how she used to yank on his curls when they made love, but that she'd just admitted that to him. When she expressed wanting him, it heated his blood.

He brushed his fingers gently on the red mark on her cheek. It angered him all over again how Margaery had hit Sansa. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly.

"No. I just wish I had gotten to slap her too. Or yank her hair out by the roots."

Robb grinned. "My little scrapper." He glided his hand down her arm and then back up, over her shoulder and then cupped the back of her head and drew her head up. He kissed her again. "How drunk are you right now?"

"Not very…" she whispered.

"So I'm not taking advantage…?"

"No, but if it would make you feel better…" She pushed at him and forced him to roll onto his back. She straddled him and gazed down at him with narrowed eyes. "Now what to do with you…"

"Anything," he breathed and placed his hands on her hips. "You can do anything to me." _Just touch me and then don't stop touching me_ , he thought desperately.

She played with the hem of his shirt. Robb waited patiently for her to decide what she wanted to do. He was hard and felt like he would die if she didn't touch him, but he wouldn't force her into anything. She didn't even have to touch his dick – just any part of him would suffice. Conversely, he wanted to put his hands on her so bad he thought he might explode.

She began to push his shirt up and Robb's body quaked at her touch, straining towards it, while his breathing went uneven. "What happened when you dropped Margaery off?" she asked conversationally.

He sat up and helped her take his shirt off. It went sailing across the room. He then threaded his fingers in her hair and kissed her hungrily before answering. "Nothing. I made sure she went to sleep and I left."

"Did she blow you again?"

"No," he growled. "I haven't let her touch me since that night. I don't like when she touches me and I've no desire to touch her. I don't want to talk about Margaery. He kissed her hard and quickly. "You're in my bed and in my arms; I want to focus on that and nothing else."

"But don't you want to hear how crazy it made me to see her touching you?" she asked against his lips as Robb lay back and pulled her on top of him.

"About as crazy as it drove me when Jon touched you."

"Don't talk about him," she whispered. "I'll just feel guilty."

He felt like he should touch on that, but if that meant no more of this then it could wait. He rolled them over so that she was on her back. Her legs wound around his waist. She met his gaze straight on as she spread her fingers over his chest. "I like the chest hair," she murmured.

Did that mean Jon didn't have chest hair? he wondered. _Nope, don't want to know_ , he thought. _Don't want to think about Sansa doing anything with Jon._

"Don't stop touching me," he rasped. "Don't ever stop touching me."

"How do you like to be touched, Robb? I don't remember…"

"Sansa, as long as you're the one doing the touching, I don't care. Just do it."

She smiled and ran her hands up his chest and over his nipples. He groaned and ground himself against her. He was finding it hard to breathe at this point. She framed his face with her hands and brought him down to her. "Kiss me," she commanded on a whisper.

He kissed her hungrily. This was the Sansa from before. The vixen in his bed. The one that teased him and turned him on beyond his ability to think. He was so glad to see her back.

As he kissed her, he slid his hand under her top and over that patch of skin on her belly that had driven him crazy earlier. He felt her shiver and he grinned as he broke their kiss. She had always been so responsive to his touch.

She watched him with a question in her eyes as he rolled partially to his side and lifted the hem of her tank top. He then slid down a bit on the bed and pushed her tank up further, to just up under breasts. He put his lips on her belly and peppered kisses on the expanse of flesh there. "Your top showed off your stomach every time you moved tonight," he murmured against her skin in between kisses. "I wanted to put my hand on this spot…and my lips."

"Come back," she urged and pulled on his arm.

He kissed his way back up her body, making sure to kiss between her breasts and not take liberties by sucking one into his mouth – but Christ, he wanted to.

He kissed her again and again, until his lips felt numb and her cheeks were red from his beard. "I should shave," he said as he gazed down at her and gently ran his fingers over her jaw and cheeks. "You have beard burn."

"No," she said and touched his beard with the tips of her fingers. "I like your beard."

He smiled. "Then I'll keep it." He didn't tell her that she used to especially like his beard when he went down on her. He would save that for another time.

"Will you just hold me for a while, Robb?" she asked sleepily and curled into him.

"Of course," he said and wrapped an arm around her. "I'll hold you all night."

"No," she murmured. "The boys and Arya could come home early and see."

Robb sighed. They were free, and yet there were still restrictions. He hated it. "Sleep for a while, Sansa. I'll set the alarm."

It didn't take her long to fall asleep. Sleep didn't come for a long while for Robb though. Instead, he watched her sleep while running his fingers through her hair. It had been much too long since she'd been in his arms like this and he didn't want to waste a minute.

xxxxxxxx

Sansa woke up to the scent of pancakes, bacon and coffee. Her stomach grumbled. And then the need for a long cold drink of water hit her. It took her a minute for the night before to come back to her.

A horrible double date.

Margaery being a mean and obnoxious drunk.

Sansa preferring to get drunk and deal with Margaery hanging off Robb instead of sober and having to deal with it.

Margaery hitting her.

Then coming home and telling Jon she just wanted to sleep it off. She had already started to sober up by then and by the time Robb had come home she had been almost completely sober.

Kissing Robb. Touching him. Being touched. Feeling his skin under her hands…

She was in her room now though and she remembered Robb saying he would set the alarm so she could get to her own bed just in case the boys or Arya came home. She certainly didn't remember the alarm going off or climbing up to bed.

She threw the covers off and climbed out of bed. She had only a slight headache and was thankful for just that considering she'd imbibed two Scorpion Bowls and a Pina Colada. After using the bathroom, washing her face, brushing her teeth, and running a brush through her hair, she padded down to the kitchen where she found Robb flipping pancakes and humming along to the radio.

He had on gray sweat pants that rode low on his hips and a white t-shirt. His curls were a mess and he was just so adorable and hot and she actually found herself feeling shy. Then he looked her way and smiled broadly. He smiled at her as though she was everything. As though she was the sun and the moon and the stars.

Sansa smiled back.

"Come here," he said huskily and reached out a hand.

She may as well have had an invisible cord about her waist that he pulled on, for she propelled herself to his side and allowed him to pull her into him. He enveloped her in his arms and kissed her soundly.

"Good morning," he rumbled when he had sufficiently stolen her breath and her knees.

"Good morning," she said softly. "How did I get up to bed?"

He smiled. "I carried you. I woke up before the alarm went off."

"Thank you."

"Of course." He kissed her again. "Hungry?"

"I am." She pushed out of his arms and went to grab a glass from the cabinet above the sink. "And I'm _dying_ of thirst."

"Gee, I wonder why."

"Ha ha."

"Are you hungover?"

She shook her head as she filled her glass with water and then went to the fridge and opened the freezer to get some ice cubes. "No, just a slight headache which is just probably dehydration."

She then proceeded to down her glass, which was a pretty tall glass, too. Then she refilled it again. Robb laughed. "Wow. You weren't kidding about being thirsty."

She polished off the second glass with a satisfied sigh and then went for the orange juice. "You want some?" she asked and shook the carton.

"Sure."

She could feel his eyes on her the entire time and when she turned to hand him a glass of OJ, he was unabashedly staring.

"Stop staring at me," she told him. "You're creeping me out, McCreepy."

He laughed softly, took a sip of his OJ, and then put his glass down. He shut off the griddle and began transferring the remaining pancakes on the griddle to a plate where there was already a pile of them. "I'm sorry," he said. "I was just thinking of how nice this is. There weren't many opportunities for us to play house before. It makes me think of how it could be like this all the time if we moved away together."

"Robb, don't," Sansa said softly.

He froze. "Don't what?"

"Don't talk about running off together."

"I said moving away not running away."

"What else would it be other than running away? You already know we wouldn't have our family's blessing."

He looked at her, his expression serious. "Are you thinking about it then? About us being together?"

"No," she admitted. "I wasn't. I don't want to right now. Can't we just…last night with you was great, and this morning until you started talking about it. I don't want to think about all that, Robb."

"It's something we'll eventually have to think about." She fell silent and he turned to look at her. "What? You don't think it's something we'll have to talk about?"

"If you want to talk about it in terms of am I ready and do I want to do that, then sure," she said slowly. "But if you want to talk about it in terms of absolute certainty that I am completely on board with running off together, then no."

He carried the plate of pancakes over to the table and placed it beside a plate of bacon. He sighed heavily. "I see."

"I know you want me to hurry up and be where you are, but I'm not. I know that my feelings for you are strong and that probably means I'm falling in love with you, but you're asking a lot by asking me to just pick up and leave. I'm not there yet. I don't know if I ever will be."

He turned to look at her, his jaw clenched tight. "You can't have it both ways, Sansa. You can't kiss me and touch me the way you did last night and then take it all back—"

"I'm not taking it back! I wanted to touch you; I wanted to kiss you. I want to just _be_ with you. Can't we just be together without having to have a plan already in place? Without having to be already gone in our heads? This is still new to me. I know it's not for you, but it is for me."

"But you don't know what you want," Robb said. "You're with Jon and you want to be with me. Sansa, I don't want to share you."

"I haven't slept with him since that night. I know that if I went to his dorm last night when he asked if I would that it would have happened and I said no. I wanted to be here with you. I'm sorry that I don't know what I'm doing." She welled up in tears. "I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to hurt Jon. I don't want to hurt anybody—"

Robb had her in his arms in two strides. He buried his face in her hair as he held her tight. "I'm sorry."

"Jesus, don't apologize," she said. "I know it's not fair to you or to him. I'm all over the place and I know it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I just want to spend some time with you. Mom and Dad are gone. Bran, Rickon, and Arya will no doubt be out most of the time and I want to just…to just _be_ with you. I don't want to think about the future. I just want to be in the present with you. No one else. Just us."

Robb leaned back and kissed her. "Then that's what we'll do." He pressed his forehead to hers and they stood there, just breathing together. He wanted to tell her that he loved her so much he would do anything to build a life with her, and if leaving the family was the only way to do that then he was resigned to it. He'd practically been kicked out of it once already after their mother had found out about them. Granted he'd still hand contact with them in some way, but Bran, Rickon and Arya had been young when he'd left and they hadn't been so close that they kept in constant contact. The only ones he'd kept in contact with was his mother and father.

Christ. His father.

Ned would disown him. Sansa was his little girl and Robb knew in his gut that his father would blame Robb and turn him out before he'd do that to Sansa. His mother, the second time around, would as well.

Before when he and Sansa had planned to leave their family wouldn't have been the wiser, but now, with their mother knowing, they would be. She would fight them. She would tell Ned.

And yet...and yet Robb knew he would still risk it. Those five years without Sansa had been rough. He'd lived his life; he went through the motions of what he was supposed to do. But his heart was shredded and he felt numb. He couldn't go back to that again. He'd wished several times that he had lost his memories, too.

He remembered when he'd returned and they'd greeted each other again after all that time. How his heart was in his throat the entire time. How he hadn't been able to stop staring at her and at how beautiful she'd grown. How the sound of her voice after all that time had nearly brought him to his knees. He had felt more in those few minutes than he had in anything he'd done in California. He could feel again, taste again, and breathe again. Not everything was dull and lifeless the way it had been while he'd been away. He needed Sansa the way he needed air and food and drink.

Sansa had a very different experience though, and he couldn't disregard that. She'd spent all this time with no memory of what they'd had and so for her, life had carried on. She'd had her family, school, and Jon. Of course she now had her reservations. He couldn't pretend that she didn't, or wish that she didn't – they were different people now and much time and distance between them. He felt a bit thick-headed that he had to keep reminding himself to be patient.

"What are you thinking?" she asked softly and put her hand on the side of his face gently.

He forced himself to smile and put his worries aside and just be in the moment with Sansa like she'd asked. "I'm thinking…how do you feel about hiking?"


	18. Chapter 18

"Remind me to toss you off the top of this mountain if I don't die before we get there," Sansa grumbled as she and Robb made their way over another steep incline of rocks. Sansa hated rocks. And hiking. And sweating. And she especially hated Robb laughing behind her.

"We're almost there, I promise," Robb said encouragingly.

"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said we should spend some time together."

"When we get to the top it will have been worth it."

"If this mountain doesn't kill me first!"

Robb laughed again and after another fifteen minutes of climbing they finally reached the top. And they were alone. For a long while they just stood out over the top of the mountain and looked over the city of Winterfell.

"Worth it?" Robb asked and grabbed her hand.

"Maybe," Sansa said, but she was smiling. "Now feed me."

They found a rock to sit on together and Robb opened up the backpack he'd carried up and pulled out a couple apples, a couple Cliff Bars, and a couple peanut butter sandwiches. They had both water that they'd carried up with them.

They ate in silence for the next twenty minutes and when they were done, Robb put all the trash in the backpack and they just sat together on the rock, looking out over the view. Robb wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Did you get a hold of Arya before we left?" Sansa asked as she leaned into Robb and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I did. She was with Brienne still. She thought she might sleep over there again tonight. Did you get in touch with Bran and Rickon?"

"Bran was going to be home to eat something for dinner and then he was taking off with one of his friends and probably spending the night again. Rickon, unfortunately, is going to be home."

Robb sighed. "Well, there goes our alone time."

"Things could change," Sansa said. "You never know."

"Let's hope."

It was in moments like this where Sansa could see Robb's point in wanting to go abroad and start anew. When Rickon had said he would most likely be home, Sansa had felt the crushing weight of disappointment. She'd been looking forward to having another night with Robb. And, she knew that she and Robb couldn't exactly steal away and hang out in his room just in case Catelyn asked what everyone had been up to that weekend, specifically what Robb and Sansa had been up to. Even an off-handed, "Oh, they just hung out in his room" would be enough to send up red flags.

Of course she wasn't about to tell Robb anything of the sort. She didn't want to get his hopes up that she was considering his suggestion because she wasn't. She just might have imagined it a little.

"Robb."

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think if either of us had been born to another family we would have still found each other?" she asked.

He smiled and nodded. "Absolutely."

She smiled. "Absolutely, huh?"

"You're my other half, Sansa, no matter what form you take."

"You're such a romantic. Hey, Robb?"

"Yeah?"

"How did Mom get you to tell her what was going on?"

"She confronted me after the accident. I was…I didn't handle it well, you being in a coma. I was beside myself. She didn't think it quite so…brotherly, and told me basically that she knew something wasn't right between us. She brought up the fact that she'd noticed an intimacy between us that was obvious in couples that were having relations with each other."

"Did she use that word? Relations?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"I denied it of course, but she wouldn't let it go. She said she had found it funny when we'd both applied to the same school in California, but hadn't really thought much about it until she saw us that night on the couch and had gotten a bad feeling that something was going on. We applied to other schools, too, but just for show. I told Mom that you had inspired me to go back to school and that we'd made a contest out of applying to the same places."

"Wow. So we were really good at weaving stories," she murmured.

"We had to be. You know how Mom is when she has something set in her mind. She doesn't let go of it."

Sansa sighed. "I know. And she's crazy intuitive. There was one time Arya snuck out of the house to be with her friends and Mom just woke up and somehow _knew_."

"Well, it was the same kind of thing after the accident. She told me she knew you weren't really interested in Joffrey and said she found it interesting that you'd started dating him shortly after she'd confronted me the first time about our relationship. I was too wrecked worrying about whether or not you were ever going to wake up to also keep her suspicions at bay. I broke down and told her." He sighed. "And then you woke up."

Sansa looked at him sadly. "With amnesia."

"Yeah," Robb said softly. "And everything changed. Southern California might not have been the only place you'd applied to, but it was the only one you never learned about after Mom threw out the acceptance letter. She pushed me to go, and pushed me to go early in the hopes that my not being around you wouldn't trigger a memory."

"I'm sorry," Sansa said and put her head back on his shoulder.

"Don't apologize. You woke up and that's all that matters."

"So you left and what happened?"

"I lived my life, which wasn't much of one. I missed you every day and tried to tell myself that maybe I was sick and had to get over it. I dated, I slept around, and I even half convinced myself I could fall in love with a couple women."

"What happened to them?" she asked softly.

"I sabotaged them both. They wanted much more than I could give them. When push came to shove, it turned out I didn't love them at all and wasn't even close to it."

"I always thought that my aversion to dating was because of the accident and how it came to be with Joffrey," she said. "Maybe it was because subconsciously I was waiting for you."

He pressed a kiss to her temple again. "See? Meant to be."

She kissed his cheek and stood. "I need to stretch." _And think._ She needed a few to process all that Robb had told her.

She ambled over to a flatter rock and started doing some yoga poses to stretch out her calves and hamstrings. When she did Downward Dog, she heard Robb groan. She turned her head slightly and found he'd come closer.

"Are you trying to kill me, Sansa?" he asked and fondled her ass.

"Robb!" she scolded playfully and laughed. She righted herself wagged a finger at him. "Naughty boy."

He grinned wolfishly and looked completely unapologetic about that fact.

"I did promise to teach you some poses," she told him.

"Maybe when we get home. We should start heading back so we can sort out what's going on tonight."

"Yes, sir, Commander, sir!" Sansa saluted.

He laughed and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her passionately and ended the kiss with a soft bite and pull of her bottom lip. It drove Sansa wild. She responded by kissing him voraciously and he laughed huskily. "You liked me biting your lip," he said.

"Yes," she replied and nodded eagerly.

"Then I'll be sure to do that again in the future."

xxxxxxxx

Arya and Bran's cars when Sansa and Robb returned home. Sansa sighed. "Well, here we go," she said.

"We'll tell them that Jon was with us," Robb said before they climbed out of the car.

Sansa blinked. "What?"

"If they ask where we were. We'll tell them we went hiking but that Jon was with us. Okay?"

She nodded, hating all the subterfuge. Nothing like having to steal moments together and then lie about it to really kill the mood.

"Tonight, if Rickon ends up staying home, maybe we could go out?" she suggested. "I could say I'm going to Jon's and you could say you're going to Margaery's."

He nodded, but didn't say anything as he got out of the car. Sansa climbed out after him and they both went into the house.

The kitchen was a disaster and the TV was loud in the living room. Arya came bounding into the kitchen a second later. "Where were you guys?" she asked. "I tried calling you, Robb."

"Jon, Sansa, and I went for a hike," Robb said smoothly. "What's going on?"

"Can we talk in private? I need some advice on something," Arya said and darted a look at Sansa.

Sansa pursed her lips together and went into the living room without a word. It was no secret that she and Arya weren't very close, but it still stung to have Arya be so dismissive of her. Not that Arya listened to any advice Sansa gave her anyway. Perhaps Arya was just saving them both a lot of time and headaches (and arguing). Sansa went to the living room and found both Bran and Rickon watching some action movie.

"Hey guys," she greeted them.

They both lifted their hands in greeting, but didn't look at her.

"Okay," Sansa said slowly and headed upstairs to take a shower.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket just as she was taking it out and saw that it was a text coming in from Jon: _Hey, how are you feeling?_

Sansa sat down on her bed and replied with: _I'm okay. Slept like the dead. How are you?_

Jon: _I'm okay. Are you busy? Do you want to do something?_

Sansa bit her lip. Another person to lie to. _I can't tonight, I'm sorry._

Jon _: Sansa, are you okay? You've been acting kind of weird lately. Did I do something to upset you?_

Oh fuck _. No,_ she wrote back _, not at all! I'm sorry. I don't mean to be weird._

Jon: _You'd tell me if you were upset, right?_

She frowned and wrote, _Of course!_

Jon: _Okay._

Sansa put her phone down and just sat there. Jon had been her best friend before her boyfriend. She liked him a lot…she just didn't want him the same way she wanted Robb and it wasn't fair to him. Robb was right. She had a choice to make. She couldn't keep stringing Jon along like this. The last time she'd used a beard she'd ended up wrapped around a tree. This time, Robb was using one too and he ended up with a train wreck like Margaery.

Was it that when they were together people got hurt or when they were apart – even when being apart wasn't real and just meant to throw off suspicion?

Was she being stupid wanting this time with Robb? This time that she apparently wasn't going to get anyway. Was it something she just needed to get out of her system – would it eventually pass? Was it just lust?

She could have a normal relationship with Jon. There wouldn't be any sneaking around, no lying, no coming up with stories, no acting and pretending. With Robb, it was all of that all of the time.

But if they moved away….

She allowed herself a minute to imagine it. A little cottage in, say, some English countryside. She could work as an elementary school teacher, Robb would be an attorney. No one there would have to know they were siblings. They could come and go as they pleased. Sleep in the same bed. Share meals together, hold hands in public. They could make love whenever they wanted wherever they wanted in their little cottage. She could kiss him when she wanted to. He could hold her while they watched a movie.

She then saw her parents in her mind's eyes. Saw how they probably wouldn't accept it. Accept them. They might even disown them. What if they sought legal action to stop it? What if their mother or father (or both) had Robb arrested? Could they do that? _Would_ they do that?

 _Okay, stop,_ she thought. _You're spiraling._

Robb came in her room then and shut the door behind him. "Okay, Arya is going out for the night for sure. Bran is too, and Rickon is talking to a friend on the phone and it sounds like he might go over there."

He looked so excited that Sansa couldn't take it away from him with her maudlin thoughts. Instead, she smiled up at him. "Great."


	19. Chapter 19

Sansa's less than enthusiastic response to their possibly having the night to themselves had concerned Robb. She'd looked distracted and distraught by something when he'd come to tell her the good news and he'd seen her phone in her hand. Was it Jon? Was she having doubts? Second thoughts? If it was Jon, did she care more for him than she'd let on?

After Robb had dropped Rickon off at a friend's house for the night, she called to tell him to pick up a bottle of wine. Okay. Maybe he'd been overreacting. Maybe everything was fine. Maybe he was seeing problems where there weren't any all because he was so afraid to lose her again.

When Robb got home, bottle of wine in hand, and walked through the door Sansa came running out of the dining room towards him. He caught her in his arms, which was tricky with a bottle of wine in his hand, and laughed as she peppered his face with kisses.

He'd worried for nothing.

He walked her backwards to the counter and put the bottle of wine down on it. Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her ardently. His hands slipped under her shirt, needing to feel her skin under his hands. His relief that she wasn't pulling back had increased his ardor.

But then she broke the kiss and grabbed his wrists. "Stop, stop, wait," she said with a laugh.

"What? What is it?" he asked even as he chased her lips to kiss her again.

"Close your eyes," she ordered.

"Why?"

"Robb, just do it. It's a surprise. You'll like it, I promise."

He closed his eyes. "Okay, now what?"

"Follow me," she said and took his hands.

"Sansa, I can't follow you. I have my eyes closed."

She laughed. "Just hold onto me."

"Always," he said.

She walked in front of him and had her hands behind her, clasping his. She led him slowly through the house and he thought they might be going in the direction of the dining room.

Then she stopped abruptly and he knocked into her back. She let go of his hands and said softly, "Okay. Open your eyes."

He did as she directed and his heart clenched when he saw the candlelit dinner she'd prepared. For him. For _them_. "Sansa," he breathed.

"Okay, so the dinner itself is questionable. I can't cook to save my life so I made tomato soup and—mmph!"

Robb didn't let her finish before he was pulling her into his arms and kissing her. "I love you so much," he whispered. He pressed fevered kisses along her jaw and down her neck. He bit at her pulse point and then licked her there. She shivered and pressed herself against him.

"Robb," she moaned.

He groaned. "How long I've waited to hear you say my name like that…"

"We should eat…"

"I am going to eat," he said and lifted her. She wound her legs around his waist. "I'm going to eat you," he said huskily and as he carried her into the living room. He placed her down on the couch vertically and she framed his face with her hands as he kissed her.

He trailed kisses down her neck, down her chest and over her belly – all through her clothes. Then he got to her jeans and undid them. He looked up at her, giving her a chance to stop him. She didn't; her eyes had darkened and her cheeks were flushed. She wanted this.

When he saw the first patch of skin bared, he placed a hot, wet kiss there. He went to his knees and pulled down her jeans and panties and when she was bare for him, he spread her legs slid each hand up each leg. He kissed one knee, then the next, and watched her watching him.

He then pressed kisses along the inside of her thighs and when he got to her pussy, he breathed in the scent of her and spread the lips of her labia. "Such a pretty pink pussy, Sansa," he murmured.

"Robb," she said on a whisper and he heard a bit of a scold in her voice.

He grinned and licked her. And then licked her again. She moaned. "You were going to say something, Sansa?"

"Don't stop," she gasped. "God, please don't stop."

"I don't plan to," he growled into her flesh. She tasted sweeter than he'd remembered and he shut his eyes and savored having the taste of his Sansa again in his mouth. "I want you to come in my mouth."

Her fingers speared through his curls and she held him against her. She began to move her hips and when he looked up at her to gauge her reactions, he found her head tilted back, eyes closed and mouth open.

"Look at me," he told her. "I want to see your eyes on me, Sansa."

She looked down at him heatedly. He licked, nibbled, and teased her nub until she was gasping and begging him to make her come. He traced his name on her clit and she cried out just as he'd finished the second 'b'.

He didn't stop tasting her until she pulled lightly on his hair and she kissed his way back up to her mouth. "Do you want to taste yourself on me?" he asked as he leaned over her.

"Yes," she gasped and drew him down for a voracious kiss.

Her hand went to the tent in his jeans and he groaned and stayed her hand. She broke the kiss and looked at him in question.

"This was about you," he told her. "I don't want you to do that because you feel like you owe me something."

Her stomach growled then and he placed his hand over her belly and laughed. "I think it's time to eat."

"I'm going to have to warm up the soup."

He smiled. "Worth it?"

She laughed as though she couldn't believe he'd just asked that. "I just came my brains out," she said. "Yes, it was worth it."

It was on the tip of Robb's tongue to ask her if Jon had made her come like that, but he didn't want to spoil the mood and quite frankly, he didn't really want to know if the other man had. Sansa was here with him, and that was all that mattered. He would have liked more certainty but, for now, this was enough. He would take what he could get.

xxxxxxxxx

Later, after their dinner of reheated tomato soup and lukewarm grilled cheese, Robb and Sansa headed down to his room where they curled up on his bed together and made out like teenagers.

One of his hands was on her hip, holding her close to him while their legs were intertwined. His other arm was stretched out under head and his hand was playing with the long strands of her hair. Sansa's hands were under his shirt, pressed against his skin. "Was it always like this?" she asked breathlessly when she parted for air.

"In varying degrees," he replied, just as breathlessly.

"Tell me. Please."

"From the moment we got together—"

"Tell me about our first time."

She realized she could be a bit all over the place in what she wanted to know, but she wanted to know everything about them.

"Everyone in the house was gone," he whispered and rolled them so that she was on her back. She spread her legs and wound her legs around him, fisting his shirt in her hands and pulling him down to kiss her. "We went into my bedroom and we stripped each other bare."

"Yeah?" she ground herself against him.

"Then I laid you down and I kissed every inch of your perfect body. I made you come with my mouth on you. I sucked on your breasts…"

"Did I go down on you?"

Robb nodded and rubbed himself against her. They both gasped. "Yes. We took our time exploring each other. You were so wet for me…"

"Oh, God, Robb!" she cried out and came.

"Oh, Sweetheart, you came for me again," he moaned. "My Sansa, my sweet Sansa…"

"It was always like this?" she gasped.

"Sometimes it was slow and sometimes it was fast," he murmured as he nuzzled the side of her face.

Sansa slid her legs down to the bed and looked up at him. When they were like this together it was easy to pretend it could always be like this. But in moments when they were surrounded by their family, reality sunk in. What they were sunk in.

Robb caressed the side of her face. "Where are you?" he asked softy.

She shook her head. "Nowhere. I'm here."

"Talk to me, Sansa. I want to know what you're thinking. We can't work through any of this without talking."

She sighed. "It's just – let's say Mom found out and told Dad."

"I'm following."

"Do you think Dad – or maybe even Mom – would have either you or I or both of us arrested?"

Robb sighed and moved off of her. He lay on his side and Sansa moved so that she was facing him. "I don't think he'd have us both arrested. If he were to do it, it would most likely just be me," he said.

"Does that scare you at all?"

"I don't know that he would actually do it. I'm just saying _if_ he was going to, it would probably be me he'd do it to."

"And let's say we did run away together," she began and rolled onto her back to look up at the ceiling.

"Yeah?"

Sansa didn't miss the hopeful tone in his voice. "What do you think they'd do then? And how would we even do it? Would we tell them? Or just go?"

"What would you prefer? Things have changed now that Mom knows. Before we just planned to go and let them know we were going without giving anything away. But now…well, things have changed. If we were to go, would you want to tell them first?"

She arched a brow. "You mean you don't already have a plan all ready to go?"

"Very funny. No, I don't. Up until a couple weeks ago I didn't think you'd ever remember us. Plus, I think this is something we'd have to plan together, don't you?"

"Don't get your hopes on a plane and fly them out of here just yet."

"Yesterday you didn't even want to talk about it. What changed?"

She sighed. "…stuff."

"What 'stuff'?"

"Just coming home after our hike and having everyone here…how we can't even say we went on a hike together because of what could be said to Mom. All the lies and stories and having to make sure all our bases are covered. It's just a lot of work."

"Is that why you didn't seem as thrilled earlier when I told you we might just have the house to ourselves?"

She kept her eyes on the ceiling. "Partly."

"What was the other part?"

"Jon."

Robb was afraid of that. He waited to see if she'd embellish on that.

"He texted me earlier and asked if I was busy tonight. I told I was, and he asked if I was okay. He said I'd been acting funny lately and wanted to make sure he didn't do anything to upset me." She pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "Jon has been my best friend for a long time now, Robb." She dropped her hand and stared back up at the ceiling. "I hate lying to him, but I don't have a choice and I know that. It's also not fair of me to string him along. Nor is it fair to you. It was then that I started to think about all it would entail if we went away. I'd have to give Jon up entirely; I couldn't even keep him as my friend because he probably wouldn't understand. No one would. _I_ don't even understand it still." She looked at him. "Do you? Do you understand why this happened? Why we feel this way about each other?"

He slid closer to her and put his hand on the side of her face. "No, I don't."

She laughed and moved his hand away. "Here I thought you were going to say something profound and deep and make it all make sense."

"Sansa, I've been over it a million different ways in my head. I've researched soul mates and twin flames—"

"Twin flame?"

"It's your other half. Like a soul mate, but stronger. Some believe that we were all happy little clams once upon a time and physically attached to each other." He placed his hand on her belly. "Right at our belly buttons. Then the Gods split us apart for one reason or another and scattered us around the world. Until we find our other half we are incomplete. Some spend lifetime after lifetime looking for their twin flame. Some don't realize they are even missing theirs until they meet them."

"So you think that we're twin flames and the cruel joke is that we're related?"

"I don't know that I necessarily buy into it completely, but it is a nice story isn't it?"

She smiled. "It certainly goes along with your romantic side."

"It could even be as simple as we've always had a special bond and this is how its manifested. I don't know, Sansa, and I don't care about the reasons why. I only care about what happens to us from here."

"I wish I—"

A familiar voice drifted down to them. "Robb? Are you down there?"

Sansa's eyes went wide. "Margaery."

She scrambled off the bed and righted her clothes.

Robb climbed out of the bed and did the same, but with less haste.

And then they heard Margaery coming down the stairs. She stood in the doorway and put her hands on her hips. "Well, well, well," she said and zeroed in on Robb. "There you are."


	20. Chapter 20

"How did you get in?" Robb demanded of Margaery.

"The door was unlocked," she said with a shrug.

"And you just let yourself in?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Margaery said. "All the lights were on upstairs and your cars were in the driveway. I knew one or both of you had to be home. I've let myself in before. Right, Sansa?"

"Unfortunately, you are correct," Sansa said with a sigh.

Margaery looked at her sharply and then sighed. "Sansa, listen, about last night…I'm sorry." She looked at Robb and then back at Sansa. "I'm sorry to both of you for how I behaved last night. I was out of line. I'm kind of a mean drunk."

"Kind of?" Sansa said rhetorically.

Margaery sighed and folded her hands before her demurely. "Like I said, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started drinking in the first place, but I thought I'd be fine since I hadn't gotten drunk like that in a long time. Clearly I was mistaken." She looked at Sansa. "I don't know what happened to you and me, but we used to be friends. I mean, sure we didn't hang out a lot or anything, but I always enjoyed talking with you, Sansa. I feel like ever since I started dating Robb our relationship has changed and I don't know why."

 _Because a. you started dating Robb, b. you went down on him on your first date, and c. you treat him like a possession_ , Sansa thought.

She couldn't tell Margaery the first two reasons, so she went with the third. "I don't like the way you treat my brother," Sansa said plainly. "He's not a possession, Margaery; he's a person."

Margaery nodded and looked about ready to cry. She bit her lip and looked at Robb. "Can we talk?"

Robb darted a glance at Sansa, who was already walking to the door. "Uh, sure…"

Sansa climbed the stairs up to the kitchen and started to head up to her bedroom when she stopped, paused, and turned back around. She went outside to the front of the house where the living room window was…

She could see it all and, in fact, she could clearly see the couch where Robb had gone down on her earlier. If Margaery had come by earlier she would have gotten quite the show.

Margaery would have also gotten quite a show if she hadn't announced herself the way she did before coming down to Robb's bedroom. Granted, Sansa and Robb hadn't been naked, but they had been on the bed together, laying in each other's arms. What if it had been Arya? Or Rickon? Or Bran? What if their parents had come home early? Neither of them had thought about locking the door, but if it had been any part of the family then that wouldn't have mattered.

They weren't thinking. They were being too reckless.

Sansa got the sense that before the accident she hadn't been as worried as she should have been about the possibility of discovery. Or maybe she just hadn't thought it would ever happen. However, post-accident Sansa _was_ a cautious sort of person. She knew the risks involved and was aware of them in a way that Robb didn't seem to be. Yet when she was with him she became so consumed with him that all else fell away.

Being without Robb felt like an impossibility, but what did she do when being with him felt like one, too?

xxxxxxxx

"So, what were you guys doing down here anyway?" Margaery asked as she sat down on Robb's bed.

"Watching TV," he replied.

"The TV is off."

"I heard a noise upstairs," he lied easily. "I turned it off to hear better and then you called down."

"Why not upstairs in the living room? Is anyone else home?"

"No, they're not. I was just hanging out in my room and Sansa came down to see what I was doing. Was there something you wanted to say to me or did you want a play-by-play of my day?"

"I called you earlier," she said softly.

Robb raked a hand through his hair. "I rather felt after last night I didn't have to formally tell you that we were through."

"I know I was an asshole."

"Margaery, you slapped my sister. You let the entire table know that we weren't having sex. You attempted to jack me off at the table. Did I mention you slapped Sansa?"

"I know, and I have a lot of apologies to make to her, but Robb…I – I don't want to lose you."

"Margaery—"

"No, listen, hear me out. Robb, I like you. A lot. You're not like any guy I've ever dated before. Most guys I date want to get physical right away and you're not like that. You talk to me; you actually want to get to know me, and you have no idea how much that means to me. I like that you're making me wait – even I do want to jump your hot bod."

"Margaery—"

"Please give me another chance. You're such a gentleman and I'm not used to that. You're so kind and even shy and I like that. I fucked up last night. Royally. And I know it. Please just give me another chance. I'll be better, I promise."

Robb couldn't believe it. She had taken his utter disinterest and sheer unwillingness to do anything sexual with her as indicative of his just wanting to get to know her. She thought he was just being a gentleman and it made her like him _more_.

Had he stepped into another world, because that was certainly what it felt like.

"Well?" she asked nervously. "What do you say?"

xxxxxxxx

Sansa was sitting on the stairs that led to the second floor when Robb and Margaery emerged from the basement. She didn't make a move and didn't say a word as she watched them pass by.

She heard Margaery bid him goodnight and he did the same to her. She heard the door close and then she heard the snick of the lock. She stood and then Robb was there about to head up to see her. He stopped when he saw her standing there.

"How long have you been lurking in the stairway?" he asked.

She shot him a withering look. "I'm not _lurking._ "

He grinned. "No? You weren't sitting here waiting for me to emerge with Margaery?"

She rolled her eyes and came down the stairs. "I was, but not for the reason you think," she said.

"Then why?"

"Is she gone?"

"I'll check." She heard him to go to the door and unlock it. "She's gone!" he called out.

Sansa came down the stairs and found Robb about to lock the door again. "No, don't. I want to show you something outside."

He looked confused, but he followed her outside. When they got to the front of the house she gestured to the living room window. "Look. You can see everything."

He sighed. "Sansa—"

"If Margaery had come earlier she would have seen…everything."

"Sansa—"

"And we didn't lock the door. What if Bran or Arya or Rickon had come home? What if Mom and Dad had gotten home early? We didn't even hear Margaery until she called down to us. Arya wouldn't have announced herself. Neither would have Bran or Rickon. They could have come down and seen—"

"Sansa, _stop_."

"It freaked me out how close she came to seeing us together, Robb. It should freak you out, too."

"She didn't see us."

"But she could have."

"But she didn't.

" _But she could have_."

He threw up his hands. "What do you want me to do, Sansa? What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know! I just – we're reckless. You and I together are reckless, and we can't be."

"We got a little ahead of ourselves because we're alone."

She folded her arms across her chest. "What did Margaery have to say?"

Robb held out his hand. "Let's go back inside and I'll tell you."

She didn't take his hand though. She kept her arms folded and tight against her chest.

Robb felt her withdrawal like a slap. She followed him into the house and made sure to lock the door. When Robb tried to get her to follow him down to his bedroom she shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table instead.

He sat down across from her and calmly told her what Margaery had said.

"What did you tell her for an answer?" Sansa asked.

"I told her I had to think about it. I wanted to speak to you first before I did anything. I would just as soon as end it, but I don't know if it would be better to keep her around – what is it?"

"What?"

"You flinched. Like I hit you. What is it?"

"You talking about keeping Margaery around as a beard. As if she's not a person with feelings. I may not be a huge fan of hers right now but I still think that's wrong."

"And what is Jon then, Sansa?" he asked. "Isn't he your beard? Or is he your shield against me?"

"Excuse me?"

"You want to make me feel terrible about using Margaery when you're doing the same to Jon. But I have to wonder if part of the reason why you're keeping him around is so you don't have to fully commit to me."

"It's harder with Jon. Based on my life after the memory loss, I've known Jon longer than you."

Robb's expression darkened further.

"Jon's important to me," she said. "He was the first friend I made after the accident. The only one I could stand to be around, and so he's not like Margaery in the sense that I can just flick my wrist and say 'I'm done with you now'."

"Can you do that with me?"

She looked at him for a long time before answering. "My feelings for you are like a bowl of fish hooks. I can't pick up one without picking up others along with it. There's the one marked brother. Then the one marked lover. The one marked…infinitely more than I can understand right now. Saying goodbye to you wouldn't be just a flick of my wrist."

His voice was low and even when he spoke. "Do not say goodbye to me at all, Sansa."

"The last time a beard was involved we ended wrapped around a tree. I woke up with no memory, you were forced to leave home for five years, and someone else ended up paralyzed."

"Joffrey Baratheon was an evil little shit, Sansa—"

"And now we have two people involved. One I care about very much and another that obviously feels more for you than she knows what to do with."

"Sansa, what are you getting at here exactly. You better not be telling me that this is it. That you're not even going to see where this can lead us—"

"Where, Robb? Where exactly can it lead us? All I keep thinking is if one part of our family had seen us. Or if Margaery had. If Mom and Dad knew what we were doing right now do you think they'd let us within a mile of each other? You'd be sent off again. Or maybe me this time."

"Sansa, just stop," he said sternly and got up. He came over and knelt beside her at the table. He took her hand in his and squeezed. "Listen to me. Yes, it was a close call. Yes, we should have been more careful. We got ahead of ourselves and we were reckless. We learn from it; we move on. You want me to end things with Margaery, I will end things with Margaery. I never wanted to be with her in the first place. I get it – it's callous to use her. It's not fair to her just as it isn't fair to Jon. You can sit here and tell me until you're blue in the face about how you care about Jon, but the fact remains that you do not love him. You love me."

"But the thing is, Robb… I don't want to."

With his jaw clenched tight, Robb got to his feet and strode to the basement door. He slammed it behind him and Sansa started to cry.


	21. Chapter 21

Graduation was upon Sansa. That meant finals came first. Thankfully, Sansa didn't have a lot of them, though from what she understood from overhearing her mother and Robb, he had a lot.

She and Robb hadn't talked much since the weekend they had alone. When they did speak it was small talk – pass the salt, have you seen Dad, can you grab a file for me. Nothing of substance. Sansa knew she'd hurt him, and she felt terrible about that, but she couldn't dig her head in the sand the way he wanted her to.

The Monday at work following their estrangement, Sansa learned from her father of all people that Robb had ended his relationship with Margaery. Instead of acting out as Sansa had expected her to, Margaery seemed to withdraw. Then she'd started dressing more demurely and no longer could Sansa hear Margaery bellowing from the other side of the building the way she could before. Margaery had a plan in motion already and that plan, it appeared, was to change everything about herself to make Robb like her.

Sansa felt bad for her.

And she felt bad for Jon. She'd put the brakes on their relationship and told him that she needed some time to sort a few things out. Unlike Robb though, Sansa didn't tell anyone about what she'd done. She figured it might buy her some time to think about what to do, because she simply did not know. She spent a lot of time at the library and if they wanted to believe she was with Jon, she didn't dissuade them of the notion.

When she and Robb were in the same room together she felt that invisible cord pulling her to him. She wanted to just stare unabashedly at him, but she knew she couldn't. And she was always hyper aware of where he was when they occupied the same space. She was so attuned to him she swore she could hear every breath he took. Her palms would itch – she wanted to touch him. It didn't even have to be sexual. Just a hug would have sufficed in this state she was in. When she heard his voice she strained to hear his every word. She loved his voice, deep and sexy with a little bit of a rasp to it.

She missed him. She missed him so much her heart ached, but she _didn't know what to do_.

So, she threw herself into her schoolwork.

Her parents wanted her to attend graduation, but Sansa didn't feel like it. She just wanted her diploma. But, at her mother's insistence, she attended. She didn't do it for herself; she did it for them. Afterwards, they had a barbeque in the backyard to celebrate. Just family – Sansa insisted. She told them Jon might stop by, but she never bothered to tell Jon about it. Besides, she was pretty sure he had his own thing going on with his own family.

She was in the kitchen grabbing condiments from the fridge and putting them on a tray to take outside when Robb came in. He started going through drawers and was clearly looking for something with no success. When he slammed one of the drawers and swore, Sansa jumped.

"Robb, what are you looking for?" she asked.

"That big grill spatula that Dad uses," he muttered. "Where the fuck is it?"

"The sink. He took it out to clean it and apparently forgot about it," she told him and went to grab it at the same time Robb did. Their shoulders touched and they both froze. Sansa hadn't touched any part of him in over two weeks and so just that small contact might as well have been full body contact. Robb moved away from her and started to leave the kitchen. "Bring it out with the tray, please," he said without even turning around and looking at her.

The rest of the afternoon went by without incident and after everyone had dispersed to do their own thing, Sansa stayed outside as the day started to fade into night and sipped on a beer, her knees up to her chin.

When it was dark out and the moon and the stars had made an appearance, she heard someone shuffling around behind her on the deck and without turning around said, "Who's back there?"

It was Robb. She heard him swear. "Christ, Sansa, you scared the fuck out of me. What are you doing out here in the dark?"

"Just sitting here," she said.

She heard him come closer and swore she could feel exactly where he was.

"Why don't you come inside before you get eaten alive?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine. I sprayed bug spray on me earlier. What's everyone doing inside?"

"Arya, Bran, and Rickon are gone with their friends. The Greyjoy's came over to talk to Mom and Dad so they're all sitting out on the porch talking and drinking wine."

Sansa laughed softly. "So it'll be an early night for Mom. Dad's probably going to have to carry her to bed."

"She always thinks she can hold her liquor but she really can't." Silence, then, "Well, I'll leave you to it then." She heard him start to shuffle away and that was absolutely not what she wanted. This was the most they'd spoken for the past two weeks.

"Hey, Robb?"

"Yeah?"

"I never asked how finals went for you."

"They were fine," he said. "I passed."

"And your GPA would be?"

"Four point oh."

"Excellent job. I graduated with a three point five."

It was odd having a conversation without looking at each other. Maybe that was for the best? Sansa just didn't know anymore.

Silence stretched for so long Sansa began to wonder if he was like a bandit and managed to get inside the house without her hearing him move when he finally asked, "So, grad school in the fall?"

"Yeah…I'm going to take the Teacher's Certification test next week."

"Nervous?"

"Nah…but ask me when I haven't had a couple beers."

Robb laughed softly. "You're a smart woman, Sansa. You'll be fine. What grade are you looking to teach again? Kindergarten?"

"Yep."

"Not high school like Mom?"

"No way. So, you have like, what, fifty years left of grad school?"

"Just one."

"Oh, that's not too bad. What is it you want to do exactly?"

"I'm leaning towards environmental law right now, but I also like litigation."

"You like to argue."

She heard the smile in his voice when he said, "I guess I do."

She wanted to tell him that she missed him. That she was on a break with Jon and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for being so difficult, but at the same time she didn't think she should have to apologize for thinking ahead, for thinking about what could become of them if they were caught or if they decided to run off together. And now, with him still being in school and her starting grad school in the fall…

It was impossible.

And Sansa felt the weight of if all sitting right there on her chest making her unable to breathe.

"Good night, Sansa."

Sansa forced herself to sound light and airy when she bid him goodnight. Inside though, she felt absolutely gutted.

xxxxxxxx

A few days later when Sansa came home from running a few errands, she found Robb in the kitchen with some woman that looked only vaguely familiar to her.

"Hey," she said slowly as she dropped her purse on the table and looked at the woman. She had long brown hair, a heart-shaped face and amber colored eyes. Robb, who was at the fridge taking out a couple bottles of water gestured to the stranger. "Sansa," he said, "this is Jeyne. Do you remember her?"

Sansa pointed at her. "You used to work at the public library with Robb, right?"

Jeyne smiled. "I did. Sansa, right?"

Sansa nodded and held out her hand. They shook hands and then it hit Sansa like a thunderbolt. This was the woman that Robb had said had a crush on him just before she'd decided to go out with Joffrey.

"So, how did you two meet up again?" Sansa asked.

Robb came over and handed Jeyne a bottle of water. "We ran into each other at the grocery store of all places. I invited her back here so we could catch up."

Sansa forced herself to smile. "That's nice."

Feeling awkward, like she was intruding on their "catch-up" time, Sansa excused herself and headed up to her bedroom. A half an hour later, Robb shouted up to her and told her that he and Jeyne were going out to dinner.

"Have fun!" Sansa called out to him.

Sansa sat on her bed and attempted to talk herself down from the ledge of emotional breakdown she felt coming on. She told herself that this was for the best. Robb was moving on. It wasn't like she could make him wait forever while she figured out what she wanted. He had a life to lead and she couldn't be making him wait for her.

This was good. Good for him. Good for her. She'd just be his sister and nothing else. He'd date Jeyne, maybe marry her, and Sansa would maybe get back together with Jon. She and Jon still talked frequently via text and email, and though she missed him as her best friend, she didn't miss him as her boyfriend. But, maybe now she could be more open to him since Robb was obviously moving on.

Yes, this was for the best. It really was. Robb deserved to be happy, and with Jeyne he could be open about his feelings. No running, no hiding, no lying and scheming for alone time…

This was great. Fantastic even.

If only she didn't feel like she was a giant wound that was bleeding out.

* * *

Please let me know what you think! :)


	22. Chapter 22

_"_ _Welcome to my humble abode," Joffrey said with a smirk as he led Sansa through the foyer that was as big as her bedroom, and down the hall with the shiny hardwood floors and taupe walls. They passed through the kitchen that was as big as the Stark basement with shiny appliances and a long counters that went on forever. The Stark home was rather large – her father was an attorney and he made good money – but the Baratheon home was a mansion._

 _Finally, they entered the living room and the cream shag carpet under Sansa's feet squished under her flip-flops. The walls were painted gold. The drapes of the four windows each had a different colored curtain. To her surprise, it worked. The couch was leather and red and long, the coffee tables were mahogany._

 _"_ _What do you think?" Joffrey asked. "Pretty sweet, right?"_

 _Sansa didn't want to tell him she thought his house was amazing. She had already pretty much decided after two dates with Joffrey that she didn't like him at all. He was kind of a terrible person. He was rude to people he deemed below him, so that meant the wait staff when they went out to dinner, and then people that sold and tore their tickets at the movies. He was a dick._

 _So far, she'd been able to avoid going out with him too much. However, she couldn't put him off forever if she wanted to make it look good to her mother that she was "dating" the popular boy. When she'd left that night, Robb had hung back in the doorway to the living room looking at Joffrey as though he wanted to rip him from limb to limb._

 _Sansa hadn't been able to send him a discreet message not to worry. She was going to Joffrey's house, but his parents would be there. Nothing untoward was going to happen._

 _Speaking of…_

 _"_ _So, where are your parents?" she asked him. "I'd like to meet them."_

 _"_ _Oh, didn't I tell you? They went out." Joffrey smirked again. "We have the house to ourselves. Would you like a beer? Some wine?"_

 _"_ _Uh, water?"_

 _Joffrey rolled his eyes. "Are you straight edge or something?"_

 _"_ _No, I just don't feel like drinking. I have a lot to do tomorrow and it just makes me tired."_

 _He waved a hand dismissively as if he didn't care and gestured to the large black entertainment center against the wall. "The movies are inside the cabinet in that. Pick one."_

 _He left to get them their drinks and Sansa went to pick a movie. A short movie. She was already getting a bad feeling being here without his parents around. God, what if Joffrey wanted more than a few kisses? Expected more?_

 _Fucking hell, who was she kidding? Of course he expected more. Guys like Joffrey always did. Frustration bubbled up inside Sansa. All she wanted to do was go home and spend time with Robb. If only they'd been more careful she wouldn't have to be here with Joffrey, King of the Dicks._

 _She picked The Hangover to watch. It was funny and completely unromantic. The lights dimmed and Sansa started and spun around to find Joffrey walking back in the room, looking predatory as he looked her up and down. She'd dressed modestly – a pair of jeans and a blue tank top – but somehow she felt naked with the way Joffrey assessed her._

 _He placed her bottle of water down on the table and his beer and Sansa immediately opened the bottle. Phew, okay, it had not been previously open, the plastic had to pull apart still. That meant he hadn't put anything in her water._

 _She almost felt guilty thinking something like that about him, but then she looked at him and how he licked his lips while looking at her and she didn't feel so bad anymore._

 _She sat down on the couch and curled her legs up to her chin, hoping to send out the 'Do Not Touch Me' vibe. Joffrey put the movie in and sat down next to her. The movie started and Joffrey sipped his beer quietly for a while._

 _Sansa relaxed. Okay, so maybe they would just watch the movie. Then, when it was over, she would ask him to take her home. Maybe even fake a text from her parents or something. She put her legs down and that's when Joffrey pounced. He pushed her back onto the cough and laughed. "Surprise!" he crowed. And then kissed her – it was wet and sloppy just as his other kisses had been and Sansa resisted the urge to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand._

 _"_ _I thought we were going to watch the movie?" she asked with a light smile, hoping she didn't sound as tweaked out as she felt._

 _"_ _Fuck the movie," he said. He grinned. "Fuck me instead." And then his hand closed around her breast. Hard._

 _Oh hell no. Sansa pushed at him. "Joffrey, stop."_

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _Because this is all wrong. You can't just pounce on a girl and expect her to give it up."_

 _His eyes narrowed. "I'm the most popular boy at school. My parents are richer than God. I can do whatever the fuck I want. Come on, Sansa, stop being such a fucking prude and kiss me."_

 _Sansa turned her face away. "No."_

 _That was the wrong thing to say. The hand on her breast squeezed hard and she cried out and looked at him. He slammed his lips down onto her and she bit him until she tasted blood._

 _He cried out and reared back and Sansa attempted to crawl away from him. He managed to backhand her across the face. Sansa saw stars. Get away, get away, get away, her mind screamed as Joffrey grabbed her legs and attempted to pull her to him. She kicked at him hard and he went falling back. Sansa scrambled to her feet and ran out of the living room and into the first room she saw. She slammed the door shut and used the light from the night light near the sink to figure out how to lock the door. She then flicked on the lights near the door._

 _She heard Joffrey on the other side roaring at her, calling her every name in the book and demanding she open the door. Sansa dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone. With her hands trembling and fear running through her, she speed-dialed Robb._

 _"_ _Sansa," he said. "Are you okay?"_

 _"_ _N-no, Robb, I need to get out of here. He-he just forced himself on me and h-hit me."_

 _"_ _WHAT?!"_

 _"_ _Can-can you come and g-get me? I'm in the bathroom, I locked myself in here, but he'll get in, I know he'll eventually get in. Robb, help me." She was full out sobbing now. And Joffrey continued to rage and hit the door on the other side._

 _"_ _Sansa, listen, I want you to call the police, sweetheart. Can you do that? Call the cops and tell them what's going on—"_

 _"_ _Are you fucking kidding me, Robb? Joffrey's parents practically own this entire town. They'll laugh at me and say it's my fault and won't do anything." Her eyes scanned the bathroom searching for something to help her. Something, anything. Her eyes focused in on the window._

 _"_ _Sansa, they won't—"_

 _"_ _A window. There's a window in here. I can climb out. Come and get me, will you come and get me?"_

 _"_ _I'm already out the door and in my car. Just get out and run, Sansa, fucking run like the hounds of hell are at your heels, okay?"_

 _"_ _Okay," she whimpered._

 _"_ _Put me in your pocket, sweetheart. Don't hang up. Just put me in your pocket and get out."_

 _Sansa did as he said and put her phone in her pocket. She went to the window and pushed it open._

 _"_ _I'm getting the fucking key, you fucking bitch!" Joffrey screamed. "You don't hit a Baratheon! I'll make you pay, you stupid cunt! I'll get you on assault right after I beat your ass!"_

 _Sansa was having a hard time breathing through her tears and the fact that she had never been so scared in her life. She forced herself to steady her hand enough to undo the screen to the window. It popped out onto the lawn and Sansa hoisted herself up and then squeezed herself out. She landed on a heap on the ground and scrambled to her feet. She pulled her phone from her pocket and put it to her ear as she ran in what she hoped was towards the front of the house. "I'm out," she said. "I'm out and running…"_

 _"_ _Do you know where you are?" Robb asked._

 _"_ _No, I don't, this house is so fucking – oh, thank God. I see the driveway. I'm going down to the driveway."_

 _"_ _I'm almost there, sweetheart. Just keep running."_

 _Her feet pounded the ground hard and then the pavement once she hit it. She was halfway down the long ass driveway when Robb's car skidded to a stop at the end of it. She kept running and then froze when she heard Joffrey scream, "YOU BITCH!"_

 _She looked over her shoulder in horror as he came running down the front stairs._

 _"_ _SANSA!" Robb shouted. "Let's go!"_

 _Sansa snapped into action and ran to Robb's car. He had the door open for her and she fell inside and slammed the door shut. Robb took off immediately. He ran a stop sign._

 _"_ _Where are you going?" she demanded. "This isn't the way home!"_

 _"_ _We're going to the police station, Sansa, and reporting him for attempted rape and assault."_

 _"_ _Robb—" She broke off when she happened to glance in the visor mirror and saw a car with bright lights coming fast upon them. "Oh, fuck, he's coming after us," she said and turned around. "Robb, he's coming after us."_

 _Robb pressed down on the gas harder. He ran another red light. He took a turn that made Sansa think the car would flip. She hadn't put her seat belt on, but she did now with shaking hands and checked to make sure Robb had done the same. He had._

 _She turned to look behind them. Joffrey was gaining on them. She whipped back around. "Find someplace else to—" This time, she broke off because Joffrey had hit Robb's rear end and the car lurched forward._

 _"_ _Fuck!" Robb shouted._

 _This wasn't going to end well, Sansa thought. Joffrey drove up beside Robb and swerved into him and Sansa knew that this was it. They were going to die._

 _Robb's car swerved and Sansa saw the tree coming right for them. She screamed._

Sansa woke with a start, her heart thudding hard in her chest. Her eyes darted around the room. She was safe. She was safe. She was home and she was safe. She felt a cold sweat on her forehead and she sat up in bed, gasping for air.

She needed to see Robb. She climbed out of the bed, her dream – the memory – still fresh in her mind. It was late, everyone was in bed. Sansa was mindful enough to be quiet, but she still felt the vestiges of her dream gripping her.

She felt the fear still. The thought that they were going to die ringing in her mind like a bell.

She made her way down to the basement and pushed Robb's door open. "Robb," she whispered urgently. "Robb."

The light came on and a bleary-eyed, bare-chested Robb sat up in bed and squinted at her. "Sansa, what are you doing?"

She broke down in tears. "I just remembered the accident. Joffrey attacking me, me climbing out the window and you coming to get me. Him hitting us and the tree, I can still see the tree—" She was in his arms then, his arms coming around safe and solid and warm. Robb. Her Robb. She touched his face with both hands. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Robb gripped her hands in his. "Sansa, sweetheart, I'm okay. It was a long time ago. I'm okay."

She knew that of course. The accident was five years ago. She nodded and buried her face in his neck.

"I never wanted you to remember that," he said as he stroked her hair.

Sansa didn't know how long they stood there holding each other. Sansa held him tight, never wanting to let go. In time though, her muscles protested and her hold loosened on him. Robb leaned back and held her face in his hands. His eyes scanned her face as though trying to memorize it. "Are you okay?"

She put her hands over his and nodded. "It was a long time ago," she said.

"Yes," he said hoarsely. "I have nightmares about it from time to time still."

"You do?"

He nodded.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," she said. "It just freaked me out and—"

"I'm glad you did." His eyes welled up in tears. "I'm sorry I didn't go right home. I'm sorry I insisted on going to the police station. If I hadn't—"

"No, don't. Don't blame yourself. It was him, Robb. All him."

"I never should have let you go out with him," he said fiercely. "None of that would have happened if I'd just done my duty—"

"Your duty? It was your duty to go out with somebody else?"

"Yes," he said. "It was my duty to protect you at all costs."

"You couldn't have known, Robb. You can't blame yourself for that."

"But I do." The self-loathing in his voice was sharp and it stung Sansa.

"I let you believe that he was nice," she said. "I knew he wasn't exactly a good guy. I just… I didn't want to see you with somebody else."

"You remember all that?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Sansa, God, how could you think that anyone else…?" He pressed a kiss to her forehead and let his lips linger there.

Sansa lifted her chin and he looked down at her. She leaned in, intent on kissing him and he pulled back and shook his head. "No. Not when your mind is clouded."

She felt that rejection like a slap. "I need you, Robb."

"You need me now, in this moment. But when the moment has passed, you'll regret it and we'll be back where we were before." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sansa, but I can't."

She wasn't sure he was right about that. She wasn't sure about anything anymore in regards to her feelings and what she wanted and what she was willing to risk. Now that she remembered the accident she felt that second chance bit that Robb had told her about before. With all they'd been through already, did their second chance mean for them to be apart?

"Your mind is fuzzy right now," he said. "You should go back to bed and try to get some sleep."

Sansa wasn't sure if she could do that. She didn't want to go back to her bed alone. She wanted to be with Robb. She wanted his arms around her. She wanted to hold onto him and never let him go. By some miracle they were both alive after that horrific night and it felt like a waste for them to be apart.

She sighed. Maybe he was right. The memory was still fresh, it was late, and she was tired. She nodded and stepped away from him, letting her arms drop to her sides. "Good night, Robb."

"Good night, Sansa," he whispered.

Sansa made the trek back to her bedroom with heavy limbs. Once she got in her room, she sat at her desk and opened her laptop. She brought up Chrome and put in a search for what she would have to do to teach elementary school in the UK. After that, she looked up what it would take to become an attorney in the UK.

When dawn broke, Sansa finally crawled back into bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Thank you, everyone! So, after this one, what do you think?


	23. Chapter 23

_Sansa was making herself a late night snack of chocolate ice cream with almond butter drizzled on top when Robb came in, his clothes rumpled and his hair a mess. He stopped when he saw her and raked a hand through his curls._

 _"_ _Hey," he greeted her. "What are you doing up?"_

 _"_ _It's Saturday night and it's only eleven," she said. There was some attitude in her voice, but she didn't really care. Sansa knew exactly what he'd been doing and who he'd been doing it with. Her friends had giggled about how they'd seen Robb and some Chrissy girl making out in the halls at school. It had stung in ways she knew it shouldn't, but she couldn't stop it._

 _"_ _Is everyone else in bed?" he asked as he took off his jacket. He didn't even notice her attitude. Typical._

 _"_ _Yes," she said, and put the lid back on the almond butter. Robb came around the counter and attempted to dip his finger in her bowl and she slapped him with the back of her spoon._

 _"_ _Ow! What the fuck, Sansa?" Robb exclaimed._

 _She caught the whiff of perfume on him and hated him and that girl in that moment. She pointed the spoon at him. "I don't know where those hands have been so lay off my ice cream."_

 _His whole expression dropped and now he just looked sad. "Right then," he said and headed for the stairs._

 _She thought she should feel guilty for giving him crap, but she didn't. Not really anyway. What she wished is that he hadn't just fucked some girl. Some girl that was just one of many in a long line of girls lately. She wondered if he planned to make his way through every girl in his graduating class and then some._

 _Sansa picked up her bowl and went into the living. She plopped down on the loveseat and turned on the TV._ When Harry Met Sally _was on, so she settled on that and dug into her snack._

 _Robb came down a ten minutes later and plopped down next to her. He was freshly showered and smelled like soap. He wore a green t-shirt and gray sweatpants and he put his feet up next to hers on the coffee table._

 _She looked at him in annoyance. "Really?"_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _Nothing," she muttered._

 _"_ _Why are you so pissy with me?"_

 _"_ _I'm not."_

 _"_ _Yes, you are."_

 _"_ _I'm trying to watch the movie," she said and stared straight ahead. "And go away. Go on the couch or something."_

 _"_ _What does it matter if I sit here?"_

 _"_ _I don't want you to sit here. This is my dance space." She pointed over to the couch against the wall. "That's yours."_

 _"_ _Sansa, I can sit next to you if I want. Christ, did you get in a fight with Arya and decided you hated everyone tonight?"_

 _How did she tell him she was so jealous that he fucked some girl that didn't deserve him she couldn't see straight? That she wanted to rip that girl's hair from her skull? That she wanted him to herself and wanted him to want her like he obviously wanted that girl. How did she tell him all that?_

 _Oh yeah. That's right. She didn't. Because he was her brother and she shouldn't be jealous about him being with a girl._

 _So, she said nothing._

 _Robb put his head on her shoulder and Sansa stiffened. His curls were wet and it was making her t-shirt damp on the shoulder. "No matter where I go or what I do, I'd always rather be home with you."_

 _"_ _Liar."_

 _"_ _No," he said fiercely and gripped her arm. "You're my most favorite person in the whole world, Sansa. I'm more myself when I'm with you than anyone else."_

 _Sansa's anger dissipated in an instant. She just wished he didn't sleep around so much…it hurt her every time he came home smelling like some girl. Yet it wasn't like she could stake any claim on him. He was her brother and that was forbidden. Wrong. But when he sat with her like this, it felt like he was more than her brother. It felt like he was her boyfriend._

 _This time when he went to dip his finger in her ice cream, she let him._

That was a much nicer memory compared to the one about the accident, but it conjured up feelings that Sansa wished she didn't have. Like jealousy. Something she was currently grappling with.

A few days after remembering the accident, Sansa went to talk to Robb outside on the deck and found him on the phone. She stood by the screen door where she couldn't be seen and eavesdropped.

"Hi, Talisa…" she heard him say.

Who the hell was Talisa?

"No, no, I don't mind that you got my number from Jeyne."

So did this mean he wasn't seeing Jeyne? What the fuck was going on?

"Yeah, I'd like to meet you… I am free this weekend."

Sansa walked away. She'd heard enough.

She really had no one but herself to blame for this. Of course Robb was going to move on. She had pretty much told him that she didn't want to love him, so why wouldn't he move on? What was there to wait for when she'd made it plain that they were impossible?

Maybe she should call Jon…

He'd sent her a text the day before saying he'd missed her and could they talk? She hadn't replied.

She couldn't seem to do anything but wonder what Robb was doing with Jeyne, and now she had this Talisa person to wonder about. When she thought of Robb touching someone else the way he'd touched her, she wanted to throw up.

Meanwhile, she'd been doing more research on what it would entail to move to the UK. She'd looked up Visas, Green cards, and she'd looked up flats currently for rent. She had a good chunk of change socked away- the benefits of living at home and working for your father. She imagined that Robb had some money socked away too. He had been saving for an apartment…

It turned out that it wasn't as hard as she thought for him to be a solicitor in the UK. And, it wouldn't be hard for her to teach. There was paperwork to fill out, there was always paperwork, and a few more things Robb would have to do, but they were all doable when she broke it down in steps. Which she did. Because she was a glutton for punishment, apparently.

It didn't make sense that she'd shoved Robb away in one moment and then in the next, she was researching how they could make a go of it. It's just when she looked at what her life would be without him…

Conceivably she could get married. Robb could marry, too – Jeyne or this fucking Talisa chick. She'd have to see him love her, kiss her, maybe even start a family with her. She should want him happy, right? She should wish it for him and herself, but when she thought of having to endure a life without his kisses and touches, without that same passion for another man that she felt with Robb – could she live without those things?

Yes.

But she was pretty sure she'd die a slow death inside.

Now that she'd tasted that heat, that passion, and that love –

Wait.

Love?

But she didn't…

Except that she did.

 _Oh, God. Sansa, you stupid girl. You've gone and done it now. You're in love with him._

And her heart whispered: _You always have been._

Yes. She must have been. Even when she didn't consciously remember it, her subconscious had. And it had done everything in its power to remind her of it.

She loved Robb. She was _in love_ with him.

She would have thought that was enough to give her wings – to fly after him and stake her claim before she lost him forever. But it didn't. She felt paralyzed by it. Pre-accident Sansa seemed pretty good at taking leaps, but post-accident Sansa wasn't.

Sansa sat on her bed and stared blankly at the wall. She was in love with her brother.

Now what?

xxxxxxx

 _When you want something bad enough, the universe conspires to help you get it._

Where had Sansa heard that before? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't so much feeling that it was conspiring to help her get it as it was conspiring to force her hand.

She could not sit on this indecision forever. Either she leapt or she moved in some other direction, but this limbo business had to end.

Jon had given up on her. After her non-answer when he'd sent an appeal to talk to her and she'd ignored it, he'd sent her a lengthy email telling her that she'd hurt him terribly and right now, he couldn't really be even her friend.

Jon had unknowingly become a casualty in her and Robb's…whatever it was.

As if that wasn't bad enough, now there was Robb standing before her, looking all hot in a pair of dark jeans a t-shirt with some print on it, telling her he was heading out. The whole family was out currently. Apparently, Catelyn was pretty sure that nothing was going on with Sansa and Robb and so she felt more comfortable these days leaving them unattended _._ Considering Robb was apparently turning into a man-whore again it made sense, Sansa thought bitterly. He couldn't be thinking about Sansa while he was balls deep in someone else, now could he?

"You don't have to tell me you're going out, Robb," she snapped. "Just fucking go."

He gaped at her. "What the fuck is your problem?"

"You. You're my fucking problem."

"What the hell did I do now?"

"Who are you going to see today? Jeyne? Or the new woman, Talisa, I heard you talking to?"

"You were listening in on my conversation."

"Yes."

He came in her room then. "Why?"

"I was coming to talk to you and I heard you on the phone. I stopped and listened because I'm nosy. So, who is this Talisa?"

"She's a woman that Jeyne has set me up with."

"So you're not seeing Jeyne?"

He shook his head. "She has a boyfriend. They have a friend that they thought I'd get on with."

"Great, that sounds great. Why don't you just go and fuck her now?"

"Sansa, I'm not really liking this whole jealousy routine," Robb said. "You have Jon, remember?"

"Well, for one thing it's not a contest and for another, no, actually, thanks to you I don't have Jon anymore."

"What do you mean thanks to—"

"I pumped the brakes on Jon and me weeks ago. Like, before graduation."

His brows furrowed. "You never said anything."

"I wanted to use the time to think."

"And?"

"And then Jeyne and Talisa!"

"Sansa—"

"And now Jon is tired of waiting for me so he just fucking dumped me. He's become a casualty already in this little song and dance you and I are putting on. He doesn't even know if he can be my friend anymore and it's all your fault!"

"How is any of this _my_ fault?!" Robb shouted. "You don't want me, remember? Oh, no, wait. It's not that you don't want me, it's just that you don't _want_ to want me. I backed off because I thought that's how _you_ wanted it. I've been trying to move on to make it easier for you and now you're standing here being a bitch to me and blaming me for something _you_ wanted! Jon dumping you is not my fault, though I'm sure it makes you feel better not to take any responsibility for anything you've done—"

"I know it's my fault Jon dumped me," Sansa snapped. "And I'm well aware that I pushed you away—"

"More like shoved."

"I'm taking responsibility here, Robb, don't push it." She went to her desk and opened the first drawer. "And guess what else I've been doing?" She pulled out all the research she'd been doing and held them up. "Research."

"On what?" he asked in confusion.

She thrust the papers toward him. "Look for yourself."

He took them and started to shuffle through them. He looked up at her in surprise. "Sansa, what – what does this mean?"

"Obviously it means I love you, you stupid jerk. And no, I don't want to love you, but that doesn't mean I can stop it and it doesn't mean that I want to keep trying because I obviously can't, it just means that I don't want to love you and want you because it would be easier if I didn't—"

She stopped her tirade when Robb charged forward and took her face in his hands. Good thing, too. She was running out of her breath.

"Do you mean it?" he asked hoarsely. "That you love me?"

"Yes," she said. "I do—"

"Say it. Say you love me," he commanded. "Say it."

"I love you, Robb. I'm _in love_ with you." Her eyes welled up in tears. "And I'm so tired of fighting it and being without you. Living without you would be infinitely worse than whatever we might have to do or face. I'm still afraid. I'm still afraid of what could happen to us, but I don't want to waste any more time. Can you – can you be kissing me now?"

And he did. Sansa returned his fervent kisses with her own. She put everything into the kiss – all the longing of the past few weeks, all her love – she put everything right there in it so he could have no doubt of what she wanted and what she felt.

She pulled at his shirt, pushing it up. Robb helped her discard it. And then he was pushing her shirt up and helping her rid herself of it followed by her bra He kissed her deeply as he undid the snap of her jeans. Hastily, she helped him shove them down her legs and then kicked them off along with her panties. He captured her lips again, and went to work on his jeans. Robb moaned as though he couldn't bear to stop kissing her as he broke their kiss long enough to push his jeans and then his boxers down. He kicked them both off and then lifted her. Sansa's legs wrapped around his waist and he carried her to the bed where they fell onto it as one beast.

He broke the kiss abruptly and gasped. "Condom. Fuck. I need to get a condom."

"I'm on the pill," she said. "Just don't stop."

"Sansa—"

"Robb, _don't stop_. I need you inside me now. Please, it'll be fine." She wasn't above begging at this point.

"There's no going back after this, Sansa. If we do this, this is it. I won't go away again."

"I'll never ask you to," she whispered. "Please, Robb, _please_ …"

Their eyes locked as he reached between them and placed himself at her opening. Sansa resisted the urge to push herself down on him and just waited.

She didn't have long to wait.

Robb slowly slid himself inside her and Sansa felt the enormity of this moment rock through her. Robb must have felt it too. The look of awe and wonder and love of his face stole her breath away. "I'm home… I've come home."

She understood. She felt it, too. That feeling of completion. Of being exactly where they both belonged – in each other's arms, him inside her, her taking him in…the world might not understand it, but Robb and Sansa did. Their hearts, their souls, their minds and their bodies – they were made for each other.

Robb began to move. Sansa held on to him, her nails digging into his skin as if afraid if she let go this would all be a dream.

This was what had been missing with Jon. The need to memorize every thrust he made inside her. The hyper awareness of how her breasts felt rubbing against his chest. How he gripped her hip as though he felt the same fear – that she might fly off and this might not be real.

His other hand was at the back of her head, his fingers tangled in her hair. Sansa gripped his hip with one hand and had the other on his shoulder. Their eyes were locked on each other. Robb thrust hard into her and Sansa's back arched. His head fell and he licked at her neck and then kissed her there.

"I can't get close enough," he muttered.

"I know," she whispered. It was exactly as she felt. He wasn't close enough. He was buried inside her and it still wasn't enough.

His head bent to her breast and Sansa's legs wrapped around his waist. He sunk even deeper inside her. He moaned as he swirled his tongue around one breast. "I'm going to come," he gasped. "Too soon. God, no, too soon…"

"Robb, kiss me," Sansa said desperately. He lifted his head from her breast and she lifted her head to kiss him voraciously. They were going to swallow each other whole, she thought. "I'm going to come," she whispered.

"Me too," he panted. "Come for me, Sansa, please…now…"

He reached down between them and rubbed her nub. She shattered around him and grabbed her pillow to scream into it. Robb tossed it away from her face. "I want to hear you," he grunted. "I love the sounds you make. They're all gone and will be for hours yet. Scream, Sansa. I want it all. All of you."

She screamed for him, just as he'd asked. Her walls clamped down on him and he held himself inside her and came, crying out, chanting her name like a prayer. He collapsed against her, holding her close. Sansa held him just as close, just as tight.

"I love you," she whispered against his forehead and ran one hand through his curls. "I love you, Robb."

When he lifted his head to look at her, his eyes were wet. He looked so happy and so relieved and she laughed with pure joy before their lips met in another passionate, heady kiss.


	24. Chapter 24

"I can't stop touching you," Robb murmured. They were laying on their sides facing each other, propped up on their elbows. Robb ran his fingers across Sansa's exposed shoulder, down her arm, and over her hip.

"I don't want you to stop touching me," Sansa whispered back.

"Will you lay on your back for me?" he asked.

She smiled and rolled onto her back. "Now what?"

"Don't move."

She hadn't planned on it. Starting at her collarbone Robb began peppering her with kisses. He left them all over her collarbone and shoulders, down to the tops of her breasts, and then finally, when he got to her breasts, he sucked one in his mouth. Sansa moaned and tangled her fingers in his hair. Then he pressed kisses on the path to her other breast and repeated the process.

He made a slow path down to her stomach where he peppered her ribs, waist, and belly with kisses and then over her hips. When he got to her mound, he gave that a lick which caused Sansa to make a keening sound of need in the back of her throat. He continued leaving kisses on her thighs, her knees, her calves, and when he got to her feet she moved them away. She hated feet.

Robb laughed and crawled over her. He was hard again and Sansa couldn't take her eyes off his long, hard cock. "See something you like?" he asked with a grin.

"Very much," she said and drew him down for a kiss.

Robb lay down atop her and Sansa spread her legs and encased his hips with her thighs. She felt Robb's cock rub against her and she made that keening sound of need again in the back of her throat. He slid effortlessly back inside her and they shared a moan.

With both his elbows down by her shoulders, Robb braced himself up so he could look down at her. Then he pulled out of her depths and got up on his knees between her spread legs. He took one knee in each hand and pushed her legs back. He slid back inside her and she gasped.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked and pulled out.

"No, you're just…deeper."

He smiled and pushed back in. She gasped at the spot he reached within her and clutched at his hips. "Faster," she urged.

"As my lady wishes," he said and started moving harder and faster, pushing her legs back even further as he jackhammered into her.

Sansa's mouth opened as she came, but no sound came out. She swore she saw stars she came so hard around him.

"Fuck, I can you feel you tightening around me," Robb muttered. Then he cried out, "Sansa!"

Her legs gave way, dropping to the bed as Robb dropped on top of her. Sansa wrapped her arms around him, the only strength she had left in her body.

" M' I too heavy?" Robb murmured against her neck.

"Don't you dare move," she told him.

He laughed softly. "I don't plan on it."

After a while he began peppering her face with kisses. "I love you," he said against her lips. "I love you, my Sansa." And then he kissed her deeply. He pulled his head back and gazed down at her. "Say it again."

She smiled. "I love you, Robb."

"Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

She laughed and pushed at him. "You're going to get tired of hearing it!"

"No, never," he said and kissed her again. He rolled onto his side then, taking her with him. Their legs tangled together and Sansa rubbed her smooth ones against his hairy ones. She liked the contrast of his body and hers. He was man, all man. She could happily lay here entangled with him. She hadn't felt that with Jon. With Jon, she had just wanted to go home after.

"I've waited a long time to hear those words again," he told her as he ran his fingertips over her kiss-swollen lips. "I feared I never would again."

Sansa reached up and ran one hand through his hair at the sides and then down his jaw. His eyes stayed trained on her. "This reminds me of the first dream I had when you came back," she said.

"What was it about?"

"Just us, watching a movie in your room." Her hand made slow, nonsensical patters on his chest. She couldn't stop touching him either. "We were holding hands and you'd kiss my temple every so often, but it wasn't even what we were doing that stuck me with me after I woke, it was the feelings in them."

"What were they?" he asked and kissed her forehead.

"So much love. It…it was like it was beaming from inside you to me and from me to you. We didn't even say anything, but I could feel it. I had never felt love like that before."

"Do you feel it now?" he asked huskily.

She looked up at him. "Yes. Do you?"

He smiled, stopping her wandering hand and pressing it to his heart. She could feel it racing. "Yes."

Sansa smiled and then glanced at the clock behind him on her nightstand and groaned. "They're all going to be home soon."

Robb sighed and dropped his forehead to hers. "We'll get up then…though I wish I didn't have to."

"That goes without saying." Her eyes went wide and she sat up. "Oh no! You stood Talisa up!"

Robb laughed and pulled her back down to him. "Since when do you care?"

She smirked. "I can afford to care at least a little now. I got the guy."

Robb's smile fell and he placed his hand on the side of her face. "Sansa, you always had the guy. If you thought for one minute that anything else was possible for me…" He shook his head. "I said I was trying. That didn't mean I had any hope of actually succeeding. You're it for me for forever, Sansa."

"Same with me," she murmured and kissed him. He bit softly down on her lip and tugged on it, just the way he did once before and it drove her just as wild. She wanted him again. But, it would not do for them to be caught like this. She nudged him. "Get up. We can't be smelling like sex when they all come home."

Robb groaned, but got up out of the bed and began picking up his discarded clothes.

"I'm taking a shower," Sansa said as she finished picking up her own clothes and headed to the bathroom.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he called after her.

The sound of her laughter floated through the closed door and Robb smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in a long time. Sansa was his. And he was hers. They'd finally made it.

He dressed quickly and padded out into the hall. He heard the shower going and he couldn't resist opening the door and ducking just his head inside. "Say it one more time," he said, his voice rising to be heard over the shower.

"I love you!" she laughed. "Now go!"

He laughed and barreled down the stairs. He needed a shower too, though admittedly he was loathe to wash any part of Sansa off of him. It still didn't feel real to him, and keeping her scent on his body was a reminder that it had happened and they were together again.

However…he would not take any chances. Strangely, now that Sansa was committed, now that she loved him back and was irrevocably _his_ , Robb felt the urgency of keeping their relationship safe. Under no circumstances was he going to lose her now.

xxxxxxxx

"Robb is seeing someone, isn't he?" Margaery asked Sansa the following Monday afternoon at work.

Sansa stopped sifting through the file she was currently going through for her father and looked up at her friend. Margaery stood in front of Ned's desk, looking sadder than Sansa had ever seen her. She felt a pang of guilt for the woman. And then her thoughts turned to Jon and how she had unintentionally hurt him just as Robb had unintentionally hurt Margaery. Granted, the two were different in a lot of way, number one being that Jon wasn't an attention-seeking obnoxious pain in the ass, but still.

"Uh, I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Robb and I don't really talk about his dating life," Sansa lied. Now her mind drifted to that morning when Sansa had gone down to the basement to get a shirt from the dryer and had made a detour to Robb's room and woken him up with kisses. Her heart fluttered at the memory of it, and how adorable and hot he'd looked sleeping without his shirt on.

She'd wanted him right then and there. However, they hadn't been able to find time to make love again and Sansa rather felt if they didn't soon, she was going to spontaneously combust. She could tell that Robb was feeling the same way just by the heated looks he'd been giving her when no one was around. It was as if he was undressing her with his eyes.

"That's funny. You seemed to have a lot of sway when it came to me," Margaery said and Sansa heard the bite in her tone.

"He makes his own decisions," Sansa told her.

It would be bad to tell her that he had been about to see someone else. Robb had called Talisa that evening after he and Sansa had made love and had gotten her voicemail. He told her a family emergency had come up and apologized. He also told her that he wasn't sure he was ready to date just yet and left it at that.

"Jeyne will be upset," Robb had told Sansa. "But I don't care. I have you now. Nothing else matters."

Sansa had fallen in love with him all over again just for that.

"I'm trying to change," Margaery said. "I am trying to be more like the kind of woman he wants."

"Margaery, you shouldn't have to change who you are to get a man."

"Robb is not just any man though. He's special."

 _And he's mine_ , Sansa thought.

"There are other men in the world just as special," Sansa said slowly. "Or at least could be just as special."

Margaery shook her head. "No. I want Robb. Help me, Sansa, please?"

Sansa inwardly sighed. What could she say? No? In Margaery's state of mind, which seemed fragile at present, she might flip the fuck out. "Sure. I'll see what I can do."

Now Margaery beamed. "Thank you. If anyone can reach him it's you. I've never seen a brother so devoted to his sister. It's sweet. Must have been hell when boys came sniffing around though!"

Sansa laughed softly, a forced fake laugh. "I really don't remember…"

"Oh, yeah, that's right. The amnesia. That's gotta suck."

"To say the least," Sansa said dryly.

Then Margaery went away and Sansa rolled her eyes. She went back to finding the correspondence her father had asked her to find when Robb came in the room and shut the door behind him.

"You have to stop right now," he commanded.

Sansa looked up at him, eyes wide and her heart racing at the sight of him. "Stop what?"

"Looking so fucking sexy," he growled and came over to her. He bent down and kissed her hard and quickly. "I want you so much I can't think straight," he muttered against her lips.

"Oh, you have no idea," she panted.

"Trust me, I do," he said with a laugh. He straightened and sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk. "How's my girl?"

"I just spoke with Margaery…"

"Yeah?"

"She wants me to convince you to give her another chance."

"You told her no, right?"

"No. I told her I'd try, but that we don't really talk about your dating life."

Robb snickered.

"Judging by the joy you seem to be exuding, I'm guessing that's why she thinks you're dating someone. Maybe you want to take the happy down a notch or two or twenty?"

"Impossible. If this was a musical I would be singing and dancing right now."

She pointed at him. "I might actually pay to see that."

Robb grinned at her.

"But seriously, please? I feel terrible enough as it is about her and Jon…"

Robb sighed. "For you, I will dial it down a notch."

"Have you had a chance to look at the stuff I printed out?"

"Of course. I figure I might have to take a couple additional classes, but I think overall I will be fine. What about you?"

"I think the same thing applies to me as well. My test is tomorrow and it looks like I'll be able to teach with that over there…"

"Of course there are other things we'll need to get. Do you have a passport?"

"Yes. You?"

"Yes."

Sansa looked at him with a mixture of hopefulness and fear. "We're gonna do this?"

"Yes," he said. "We are. I don't want to have to hide and sneak around and find ways to be with you."

"I don't either."

"We'll have to talk more about it," he said. "Make plans."

"Yes."

"But first, just focus on your test tomorrow, all right?"

She smiled. "Yes, sir."

He got up and came over to her and kissed her quickly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."


	25. Chapter 25

"We're gonna need a Plan B," Robb said as he frowned at the papers in his lap.

He and Sansa were parked in the way back of a shopping plaza, well out of the way of cars and people. It was also getting late, so a few of the shops were closed already. Robb had left before Sansa, saying he was going to see Talisa. Sansa had left an hour later saying she was going to the book store.

The book store bit hadn't been a lie. They were technically at the bookstore. Just in Robb's car in the parking lot. They used the light of the streetlamp nearby to pore over the research Sansa had done. Included in the stack now were notes – scribbles about how much money they had when they pooled it together, plus a list of "To Do" items of what they would need to do in order to move overseas.

If they wanted to wait a few months to fill out all the paperwork plus find jobs and a place to live, sure, they could do it. But neither one wanted to wait that long.

Sansa sighed and rested her head on Robb's shoulder. "My head is swimming. Plan B – was there ever a Plan B?"

"In a manner of speaking," Robb said. "Following the sequence of events we had planned before, Plan A was California. Plan B was the UK. This just means Plan B will be in lieu of Plan A."

"So, California?"

"Is that where you want to go?"

"Don't even," Sansa groused.

He laughed. "What?"

"I need a definitive. My head hurts from all the stuff we just went over and I'm feeling a little defeated right now." She poked him in the ribs and he grunted. "You're supposed to have had this figured out!"

"I'm sorry to have let you down," he said with a sigh, "but I've been kind of busy with trying to figure out how to get you back…"

"Don't make me feel guilty!" She poked him again in the ribs.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Let's go to California. We can transfer to So Cal and get what we need to make the transition to the UK. It won't be forever."

Sansa sighed. "Ok."

"Don't be upset."

"It's not fair." Sansa pouted. "They make it look easy in the movies. Someone gets sick of their life and they just pick up and leave."

"And they always have someone they can stay with until they find the perfect flat or house. Or, if not that then they always meet someone on the plane that they instantly connect with and just so happens to have a spare room in a posh neighborhood."

"And they're always in the right place at the right time and land the perfect job."

"With the perfect boss."

"And then they meet someone they want to spend the rest of their lives with."

Robb sighed. "Of course this being a Rom Com, because in my head that's what it is right now, there are these easily overcome silly obstacles and misunderstandings."

"Of course. However, if it was a horror movie they would end up in a hostel where people would start dropping like flies and one night they'd wake up tied to a gurney or a wheelchair and about to be sliced and diced. Or they'd do the backpacking thing and be stalked across the countryside by some hatchet-faced killer with an axe that wants to wear their skin."

Robb laughed. "I'd prefer to think of our story as a Rom Com."

"That sound great in theory, but no. Our story is a Lifetime movie…based on a V.C. Andrews novel."

"Who?"

Sansa patted his knee. "Don't worry about it, honey."

Robb kissed the top of her head. "Feeling better?"

"Meh."

"What can I do to make you feel better?"

"You can twitch your nose and make us appear in the UK with our perfect flat and perfect jobs."

"I wish I could, sweetheart. We'll get there. We will. California is a great place—"

"I just feel like if there is an ocean between us and the family there is less chance of them doing something to us."

"I know. But listen, we can still have our names changed before we go. We can legally do it. Robb and Sansa Stark won't exist in California and therefore won't be able to be found."

Sansa lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him. "What will you change your name to?"

"Well—"

"What about Kit?"

Robb made a face. "Kit?"

She laughed and sat back to get a good look at him. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "You look like a…Thomas? No. Jack? Hmmm, maybe. Oooh, what if we made it fun like you changed your name to Clyde or Humphrey and I changed mine to Bonnie or Lauren?"

"Sansa, I don't think I'll be leaving you with the job of changing our names," he told her.

"Oh, but think of how fun it would be to tell people our names were Bonnie and Clyde! The how we got together story practically writes itself. If a Bonnie met a Clyde how could she not want to date him?"

"Maybe she'd consider how Bonnie and Clyde ended up dead. Kit is suddenly beginning to grow on me."

"Don't be a fun sucker! I was just starting to feel better. I know – Rhett and Scarlett! What about Jack and Diane – see, Jack is coming up for you again so I think that might be—oof! "

Robb managed to stop her from continuing by pulling her onto his lap. He took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly. "For now you're Sansa and I'm Robb, and I want to make love to you before we have to go back home," he said and slipped a hand under her skirt.

Sansa moaned when he managed to pull her panties to the side and find her clit. Her eyes fluttered shut and she gripped his shoulders hard.

"You're wet for me," he practically purred as he slid one long finger inside her.

"Robb," she whimpered.

"God, I love it when you say my name like that. I want inside you…let me in, Sansa…"

Sansa moved off his lap so that she could straddle him. She pulled up her skirt and helped Robb undo his jeans. He lifted his hips and shoved his jeans and boxers down over his knees.

With a mischievous smile, Sansa crouched over him, her knees on the floor of the car, and took his cock in her mouth.

"Fuck!" Robb shouted. "Sansa, God…no. Stop, sweetheart. I've been ready all day. I want to be inside you."

Sansa let him fall out of her mouth with a pop and she climbed over him, straddled him, and then sank down slowly on him.

"Kiss me," Robb gasped and Sansa kissed him hard as she started to move over him slowly. It took her a bit, but finally she found a rhythm that worked.

When he hit that sweet spot inside her, Sansa's back arched and her head went back. She gasped and started to pant as she moved faster and faster over him. Robb nuzzled her neck and slipped his hands under her shirt. He flicked her nipples with his thumbs over her bra and Sansa moaned. "Oh, God, Robb…"

"That's it, sweetheart, that's my girl…" he urged. "Ride me, Sansa. God, you feel so good. So tight and hot and wet around my cock." He gripped her hips and guided her up and down on him.

"I'm…going to…" She came, hard, and dug her nails into his shoulders.

Robb followed her, his hips lifting off the seat as he pumped his seed inside her. "Fuck, Sansa, yes, my Sansa, God yes…"

Sansa slumped against him, panting. "Car sex is hot."

"I want you in a bed," he murmured. "Spread out for me like a feast."

She hummed in agreement, liking the sound of that. She could picture it, too. "Hours and hours of just exploring each other," she murmured.

"Yes," he agreed hotly. "It will happen. It will."

Sansa wondered if it was her own worries making her hear some doubt in Robb's voice. She wanted to ask him about it, but didn't want to ruin the moment. Did he doubt her? Or were there just too many variables that could blow their plans straight to hell?

The though made Sansa shiver and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. When his arms came around her, she felt somewhat better. In his arms she felt safe. She felt stronger. It was them against the world.

"You okay?" he asked softly as he stroked her back with one hand.

"Just worried a little I guess."

"Don't be," he whispered and kissed her shoulder. "It's going to be fine. _We're_ going to be fine."

Sansa wasn't sure, but it sounded like he was trying to not only convince her, but himself too.


	26. Chapter 26

Sansa looked up as the front door opened and her mother came in, carrying a few bags of groceries. Sansa got up to help her. "Any more in the car?"

Catelyn smiled. "Yes. And what perfect timing that both my children are here to help!"

"I'm home alone," Sansa said, brows furrowed.

"Your brother just got home. He's grabbing some bags to help."

"Which brother? I have three."

"Robb."

"Ah, okay then." Sansa went to the door where all their shoes were in a pile next to it and was about to slip on her flip-flops when Catelyn stopped her. "Honey, I need to speak with you about something," she said.

Sansa affected a nonchalant attitude – at least she hoped she was. Inside she was a bit tweaked out. Was her mother onto her and Robb? Was she going to ask her something Robb-related? Memory-related?

"What is it?" Sansa asked and went to the counter and busied herself in helping her mother unload the bags.

"I ran into Jon at the supermarket."

 _Fuck_ , Sansa thought. "Oh?"

"Yes, and I asked him why we haven't seen him around much and he said because you two broke up."

Sansa shoved some canned goods in the cabinet and turned around. Catelyn was watching her expectantly. "Yes," Sansa said. "We broke up."

"May I ask why?"

Robb came in the door then and stopped when he saw Sansa and Catelyn looking at each other. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Sort of," Catelyn said. "Are there any more bags, honey?"

Robb placed the bags in his hand on the counter. "Nope. That's it. Is, uh, everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Catelyn said. "But do you mind giving me and your sister a few minutes alone?"

Robb nodded and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Of course."

He strode away without looking back and Sansa had to stop herself from watching him go. It was pathetic, really, how addicted she was to him.

"I wasn't…feeling it," Sansa said. "I liked Jon better as a friend than as a boyfriend."

"You looked so happy at the company picnic," Catelyn said.

Sansa shrugged. "I guess…I just liked being Jon's friend better. There wasn't any…chemistry."

"Sometimes chemistry is overrated."

Sansa effected a laugh. "Mom, are you telling me that I shouldn't want to be with someone that makes my heart race?" _And oh boy, does Robb make my heart race,_ she thought.

"No, that's not what I'm saying…well, I guess in a way, but no. You should be with someone that makes you feel excited and makes you get butterflies in your belly."

 _Robb does both_ , Sansa thought.

Catelyn sighed. "I suppose I just got excited that you were dating someone. Previous to Jon, you hadn't shown any interest in it since after your accident."

Sansa shrugged. "I'm not averse to the idea. I just hadn't meant someone that got my motor revved."

"Why did you keep it from us?" Catelyn asked. "I mean the fact that you two broke up."

"Because I know how much you like Jon. At first I just thought I wanted a break to figure stuff out and didn't really want to get into it with anyone because I knew how much you all liked him. But then Jon got tired of waiting for to figure stuff out and was actually the one to officially end it."

"Do you think you'll be able to be friends again?"

 _Doubtful,_ Sansa thought sadly. _I will probably never see him again._ "I'm sure in time," she said. "I think he just needs a little more time than I do to process."

Catelyn sighed and pulled a carton of eggs out of one the reusable bags. "Well, I'm very sorry to hear about this, Sansa. And I wish you would have said something. If you didn't want to talk about, we didn't have to talk about it. It's just nice to be kept abreast of what's going on. I felt like a bit of a fool when Jon told me you'd broken up."

"Sorry."

"Meanwhile, your father tells me that Margaery has completely done a one-eighty at work. He says she's become quite reserved these days. Do you know if this has anything to do with your brother?"

"It totally does," Sansa said with a roll of her eyes. "She's completely obsessed with getting him back. It's kind of gross."

"Gross? How so?"

"Well, because she's trying to completely change herself for him. You should never do that for a guy. And how she is trying to change herself is very un-Margaerey like. It won't last."

Catelyn smiled and nodded. "I see. Very wise of you, by the way. You are right. One should not change themselves so drastically to be with someone. Compromises are expected, but not to the point that you lose who you are."

"Exactly. They were all wrong for each other anyway. Margaery is a bit too wild for Robb. Plus, she was way inappropriate when we went on that double date. She groped him in public and it was just embarrassing."

Catelyn cocked her head to the side. "I wonder when we'll meet the new girl."

 _How about never, Mom? Does never work for you?_ Instead of saying this, however, Sansa just shrugged. "Who knows? It's still new and all anyway. Maybe he doesn't want to bring her around the madness just yet."

Her mother laughed. "What are you trying to say, Sansa?"

"The Stark family is nuts?"

"I suppose we are, but a good kind of nuts, right?"

Sansa smiled as she popped open a carton of strawberries and popped one in her mouth before closing it and putting it in the fridge. "Of course."

"So, you and Robb seem to be getting along well…"

Sansa looked at her in confusion. "Are we not supposed to be getting along?" _Play it cool, Sansa, play it cool…_

"No, it's just that when he returned home it seemed a bit awkward between the two of you, but that you were trying to get to know each other."

"Well, yeah, that's exactly it. I didn't really remember him all that much so it was like getting to know a stranger. A stranger that is actually your brother."

"And now?" Catelyn asked curiously.

"I think I accept him as my brother," Sansa said with a laugh.

"Have you remembered anything about him…?"

"Not really," Sansa said with a shrug. "At the park I remembered us playing on the swings and in the sandbox, but nothing else."

Catelyn frowned. "You didn't tell me about that."

"I didn't?"

"No. Does Robb know?"

"Yeah, I think I told him…it was just a flash of it, like a movie in my head. I wasn't feeling all that great that day anyway so…yeah." Sansa gathered the bags and placed them atop the fridge. "I'm gonna go sit outside and read for a while."

Catelyn smiled. "It was nice to have this talk, honey."

Sansa smiled and hurried off to her room. She sat on her bed and went over the conversation with her mother a few times in her head, looking for any place she might have said something wrong, might have given her mother something to be suspicious about. She came up with nothing, but would still run it by Robb later and see if he thought there was any cause for concern. Simple, innocuous conversations about her love life and Robb were now fraught with possible land mines and cause for second-guessing.

Her mind raced ahead to when she and Robb were together and away from the family and she felt equal parts fear and relief. She feared the fallout, she really did. And sometimes she felt torn in half with wanting to stay and wanting to go. Yet in moments like she just had with her mother, she knew they had no other recourse but to go. She longed to be free to be with Robb without having to lie and cover their tracks, and be several steps ahead all the time. It was exhausting and hard. And like now, when all she wanted to do was find where Robb was and just be with him, she couldn't.

And yet she feared what would happen to their status within the family. Would they be disowned? If so, would there be a chance for them to ever return? Could she live with it if their family turned their backs on them? What would happen if something went wrong and they needed help? Or what if something happened to their parents or their siblings – would she and Robb be told?

So many fears and doubts ran through Sansa's mind and she wished not for the first time that she had someone to talk to about it. Robb was ever the optimist and it annoyed her sometimes that he didn't seem to have the same concerns and worries. Or if he did, he wasn't sharing them with her.

With a sigh, Sansa grabbed her book of her nightstand and headed outside in the hopes that Robb would be out there, or at least find his way to her.

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"Sansa, the Greyjoy's came over and Mom and Dad both had wine. You know they are out for the count," Robb said later that night when Sansa had crept down to the basement to see him. She was sitting on his bed, her eyes peeled to the door and Robb was trying to coax her into relaxing.

It wasn't working.

"It's just that with her asking me questions earlier…" she murmured.

Robb wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her into him. She leaned into him and closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead. "It's okay, sweetheart," he murmured back. "She probably was fishing a little bit, but you gave nothing away."

Sansa closed her eyes and placed her hand over his heart. "Robb, do you ever think about what it will be like if we go and Mom and Dad disown us?"

She felt him stiffen a bit and then he sighed and said, "Yes."

"Does it scare you?"

"I have more or less come to the conclusion that it's a distinct and very real possibility. I've prepared for it."

She lifted her head and looked at him, her hand dropping to her lap. "Is that something you can really prepare for?"

He looked grim. "No." He then reached up and tucked some hair behind her ear. "But the alternative…what else can we do, Sansa? Being without each other is not an option. Doing more of this – this sneaking around and listening for footsteps and going over conversations again and again…Is that what you want?"

"No," she mumbled. "It's just that I can't help but have my fears and doubts. They are our family and this is such a big step. What if we run out of money? What if we end up homeless?"

"That will not happen, Sansa."

"How do you know that?"

"I won't let that happen to us."

"Robb, stop. You can't dig your head in the sand."

"I'm not," he said a bit tersely. "I think about these things, too. I do. I just don't want to voice them because I know that you're already thinking them. What is the point in both of us stressing about them? Nothing will get accomplished. I want solutions and answers, not problems."

"So you're saying I'm the one bringing the problems and your job is to come up with the solutions to them?" She shook her head and got up off the bed. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"I've had time – a whole other round of this – to get accustomed to the idea. I've also had the abject fear of never having you back to contend with. I've been away from home—"

"But you had Mom and Dad still. You knew if you needed them they'd be right there to help you. This time they might not be."

"Worst case scenario, no, they might not be. Sansa, we will figure things out as we go. We're both intelligent people; we will figure it out. Sometimes people leave home and they're disowned for a myriad of reasons. They don't all end up on the streets."

She sighed. "Okay, you may have a point."

He laughed softly. "Well, gee, thanks."

"But I still don't like that I'm the one that thinks up all the problems. Remember I did print out all that information to begin with."

He nodded. "Yes, I know. I didn't mean to make it sound as it did. I just know you have a tendency to get stuck in the loop of worrying at times."

"Well, you know it would be nice if you worried with me and together we found a way to sort it out. You see what I did there? I made it all very couple-y to have us work through problems together. Because that's what couples do."

Robb was grinning as he got up and came over to her. He leaned in and kissed her softly. "Yes, dear. We'll work on our worries together."

"And the 'yes dear' has already begun," she said with a little laugh and pushed at him.

"Hey, what are you guys doing in here?"

Sansa and Robb both turned to find Arya pushing Robb's door open. She stood in the doorway looking half asleep. Sansa's heart was pounding so hard in her chest she almost couldn't breathe. She felt as though everything was happening in slow motion as she checked the distance between her and Robb. No, they weren't standing too close. Granted, now Robb was moving away from her and going for the remote for his TV on the nightstand.

"Just having a chat," Robb said nonchalantly while Sansa wondered if it was possible to have a heart attack from this. "What's up?"

Arya shrugged. "I came downstairs to see if one of my shirts was down here and heard voices. Everything okay?" She looked right at Sansa then.

Sansa nodded and forced herself to smile. "I was just telling Robb about Jon."

"What about him?" Arya asked.

"Oh, we broke up."

Arya frowned. "That totally sucks. I really liked Jon."

"Yeah, everyone did," Sansa muttered.

"Who dumped who?"

"Well, I wanted a break, he got tired of waiting and then he dumped me."

"Why did you need a break?" Arya asked.

"I just wasn't, ya know, feeling it."

Arya shrugged. "I get that. I mean, maybe it was just hard to date your friend?"

"Exactly," Sansa said. This was the most her and Arya had ever talked civilly to one another. It was weird. "Anyway, I'm going to head up to bed. Night, Robb. Night, Arya."

"Night, Sansa," Robb said.

Sansa waited for Arya to follow her up, but then she didn't and so Sansa went up to her bedroom and shut the door. She sat on her bed and buried her face in her hands. Holy fucking shit. That had been close. Too close.

And now Sansa was back on Team Let's Leave and Make it Soon.


	27. Chapter 27

The lack of places to spend time together was becoming a nuisance, as was the lack of time. Quick kisses at the office and quick kisses in the basement were no longer cutting it, and while car sex was hot, Sansa wanted a bed. And time. Long lengths of time. She also just wanted to be able to hold Robb's hand or just touch him in some way without it being a huge ordeal.

But opportunity barely presented itself, and Sansa wondered how in the world they ever found time before. She supposed that they didn't have to be as careful with every move they made and every word said when everyone just thought that it was normal and perfectly fine for a brother and sister to go to the park together. Or to the movies together. Or for Robb to hang out in her room and vice versa. But now…now everything had to be planned and thought out and Sansa was so frustrated she wanted to cry.

Steps were being made for their move, but it just wasn't going quickly enough for Sansa's liking. Robb wasn't into social media so he didn't have to take himself off Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram the way Sansa did. Nor did he have to explain to Arya, Bran, and Rickon that she was just tired of social media and needed a break. She couldn't tell them that if anyone ever looked up a Sansa Stark online they could easily discover she was related to a Robb Stark, and that would be bad for their plans in California and, one day, abroad.

She also settled on a name: Alayne Stone. It was completely at random how she chose it, too. She flipped open a book of names at the library and opened to a random page that led her to Alayne. A book about hiking with a cairn gave her the idea for "Stone".

"It makes more sense for me to change my name than for you," Sansa told Robb when he asked her about it. They were in the parking lot of the bookstore again. Robb was supposed to be hanging out with Jeyne, her boyfriend, and Talisa, while Sansa was going to the bookstore. Everyone knew she could be a while at the bookstore. At least until closing, which was in an hour.

Robb was sitting up in the back with Sansa's legs draped over his lap and against the door.

"Well, and you don't have to do it legally unless it becomes an issue," he told her and then whipped out his phone. "Now let's take a look at some apartments, shall we?" Sansa nodded and moved so that she was sitting beside him.

They were making strides, but Sansa felt like the longer it took then perhaps the more time she would have to rethink this decision of leaving their family.

She found herself watching her siblings and parents and filing certain things away in her memory, such as the way her father laughed. The way her mother smiled. The way Arya rolled her eyes over almost everything. They way Bran got really excited about playing Dungeons and Dragons with his friends, and how Rickon pored over his superhero comic books.

She knew that she and Robb had to do this because being without him was out of the question. Robb was her other half, and she wouldn't feel complete without him. And spending her life sneaking around and lying to everyone wasn't how she wanted to live her life. It was just that their decision wasn't without its complications, nor was it without a whole different set of heartbreak.

There were times she woke up in the dead of night and thought she could not possibly leave her family. Then she'd see Robb and think that she couldn't be without him one more second, never mind for the rest of her life.

Yet despite her promise to discuss those things with him, she didn't. She kept them bottled up and instead focused on what they needed to do to get to California. Between Catelynn finding out about Jon, and their close call with Arya, Sansa felt as though their luck was winding down.

Robb had noticed a difference in Sansa since they'd begun planning their escape. She was on edge, and it wasn't just because of a couple close calls. He knew she was grappling with the notion of leaving the family for possibly forever. He wanted to help her and ease her mind, but he felt that he didn't really know how. He was afraid to indulge her fears because he was afraid she would then decide that no, she couldn't go through with this. Yet he felt like the biggest asshole on the planet for not trying to talk to her about. He had said he would, but then he didn't.

Now, as they pored over the apartment listings he'd saved for them to peruse, he felt like he should say something, tell her that if she wanted to talk to him about her fears and the sadness she must feel when it came to actual leaving, she could tell him all about it. But then she got excited about one of the fully furnished apartments he'd found and he got distracted.

xxxxxxxx

Robb ran down the stairs to his bedroom to change and to check his email about a few of the apartments he and Sansa had inquired about, when he stopped dead in his tracks.

He blinked.

He stared.

He blinked again.

Margaery wiggled her fingers in a wave. "Surprise."

Robb looked around, though he wasn't sure why. Was this some kind of joke? Was one of his siblings setting him up? "Did someone let you in?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Me. I know where the key is."

"Robb, are you down there?" Sansa was home.

"I am," he called up to her. "And I'm not alone."

She came running down the stairs and when she came in his room she was smiling. She reached for him and then stopped abruptly when she saw Margaery.

Margaery furrowed her brow, clearly not knowing what to make of Sansa's actions. Sansa stared at her. "What the fuck are you doing?" she demanded.

"I needed to talk to Robb….alone," Margaery said.

"Margaery let herself in with the spare key," Robb muttered.

Robb had been aware that Margaery had been acting differently since their split. She'd been more subdued. Had started dressing a bit like a school marm, and was unfailingly polite to him, yet with a coating of super sweetness that he found nauseating. He'd been very careful not give her any kind of encouragement, but it seemed Margaery didn't really need any.

Sansa folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not leaving. You let yourself into our house without asking and showed up in Robb's bedroom? I don't think so, Fatal Attraction. You just crossed a major line."

"I couldn't get Robb to talk to me any other way," Margaery said calmly. It was the sort of calm just before someone snapped though and Robb turned to Sansa and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Sansa," he said. "Let me talk to Margaery alone."

Sansa dropped her arms and gaped at him. "Have you lost your fucking mind? Batshit McGee just let herself into our home, Robb. We're lucky we don't have rabbits or she'd be boiling one!"

"Sansa, I got this," he said firmly.

She shook her head and went to the door. "Fine, but I'm getting a knife ready just in case." She glared at Margaery in warning before she left.

Robb turned and looked at Margaery who was now crying. He sighed. "Margaery, Sansa is right. Letting yourself into our house was crossing a line. How did you even get in?"

"I know where the spare key is," she replied. "Just tell me what to do to get you back, Robb!" she wailed.

"I'm not sure how else to say it, Margaery. We're done. I don't want to date you, and I know you're trying to change for me, but you really shouldn't do that. Not for any guy. Someone out there is going to love you just as you are."

When Margaery left an hour later after more tears, some begging, and a few outbursts, Robb felt completely drained. He closed the front door, locked it, and heard Sansa running down the stairs. She stopped in the doorway and arched a brow.

"Batshit McGee?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It just came to me."

Robb rubbed his forehead and tossed the spare key on the table. "I don't think we'll be putting that out for a while…"

"Are you going to tell Mom and Dad what she did?"

"I don't know…I feel sorry for her."

"Why?" Sansa asked incredulously.

"Because she thought I was one of the good guys. She took my complete lack of interest as just wanting to get to know her as a person and being shy. I led her on when I knew there was never any hope for her."

"Okay, I get that. I felt sorry for her too, but that was before she let herself into our house!"

"If she lost her job over this I'm afraid it would get worse."

Sansa threw up her hands. "You're hopeless."

"Besides, we're going to be out of here soon anyway."

Sansa sighed. "Are we?"

"Yes. Come on, I was just about to check my emails regarding the apartments we asked about."

"Okay," she mumbled and started to head towards the basement door. Robb caught up to her before she headed down and pulled her into his arms. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart," he murmured.

"I don't believe you right now," she said.

He lifted her face to his with his finger under her chin. "Talk to me."

She shook her head and pulled away. "No, not right now."

Well, he tried right?


	28. Chapter 28

If things before were going too slow for Sansa, now they were going too fast. She had barely blinked and suddenly she and Robb had found an apartment (furnished) and they'd paid first and last already, he had a lead on a job, they'd begun the process of applying to Southern California University, and they'd purchased their plane tickets.

 _They'd purchased their plane tickets_.

They were leaving exactly two weeks from that moment. Sansa stared at the confirmation in her hands and could barely believe it.

Robb placed a hand on her knee and she jumped. "Whoa, whoa. You okay, sweetheart?"

It was one of those rare times when they were alone in the house. They were up in her room for a change. They had a perfect view of the driveway so if anyone was to pull in they would know.

Currently they were at her desk, both in chairs of their own. Robb had put the one-way tickets to San Diego on his credit card. Sansa had sat pressed against his side and watched him do it with her heart racing.

This was happening. This was really happening.

She looked at him and nodded. Words failed her. And then she looked around her bedroom, her bedroom of twenty-three years (even if she didn't always remember it) attached to the only home she'd known. Tears sprang to her eyes and she thrust the paper at Robb and sprang to her feet. She started to pace. She just needed to move and to think and to _move_.

"Sansa," Robb said calmly.

She really hated it when he did that. Why couldn't he ever freak out like she did? Why couldn't he join in the freaking out instead of being so fucking calm all the time?

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm fine. I'm just…I mean, it's happening. It's really happening."

"We have been planning for this."

"Thank you from the file marked Duh."

"Sansa—"

"Listen, I know we've been planning this, but now it's here and it's happening and I'm…"

"Regretting it?"

She stopped and looked at him. "No."

"Then?"

"I'm scared. I'm scared of what's going to happen when we leave. Of how it's all going to shake out. Will we still have a family or when we leave…is that it? I mean, Arya and I aren't the best of friends but I can't imagine not ever seeing her again…yelling at her again. And Bran and Rickon and how they'll grow up and what kind of men they'll be…"

She was full out crying now and Robb got up and pulled her into his arms. "I know," he whispered.

"Do you? You don't seem to care."

"I do, but I can't focus on that right now. Right now I want to focus on getting us out of here. Then I want to focus on how we'll tell Mom and Dad. Then the fallout from there."

"Do you have doubts?" she asked and looked up at him.

"I have some worries and sadness, but not very many doubts." He reached up with one hand and cupped the side of her face. "I want to see this face every day when I wake up and every night before I go to bed. I was without you for five very long years so I know what the alternative is already. Just like you I'm tired of sneaking around and making up stories and lies. I'm tired of hiding, Sansa. I want to be with you out in the open. I want to be with you and not worry if this is the time Arya walks in on us and we can't explain it away, or Mom starts wondering if something is going on and looks for ways to catch us." He leaned in and kissed her. "I haven't made love to you in weeks."

Sansa kissed him hard, all too aware of how long it'd been since they'd been intimate. It was hard to find time and opportunity, and she ached for him.

In the next instant they pulled at each other's clothes, and lips and teeth clashed in hungry, needy kisses. Sansa had the brief thought that this was perhaps risky, but then Robb pushed her over her desk, his lips trailing down her back and his cock nestled between her ass and she didn't care. She just wanted him.

"I love you," he said hoarsely as he thrust inside her.

Sansa gasped and threw her head back. She whimpered. "Oh, Robb…"

It was hard and fast and though satisfying, Sansa still ached for more. She wanted time; there was never enough _time_.

Robb pulled out of her and pulled her up and into his arms. He kissed her fervently, his arms wrapped around her tightly. "Soon," he whispered, as though he had read her thoughts.

"Do you think it will always be like this?" she asked quietly.

"Five years couldn't cool my love for you, Sansa. I can only imagine what being with you the way I want will do."

Her lips curled into a smile. "Fan the flame more, perhaps?"

"My vixen," he whispered and kissed her hard. "Imagine it," he said against her lips. "Sleeping in the same bed—"

"Me pushing you away because you're a furnace," she teased.

He laughed. "Waking up next to each other in the morning."

"Making you brush your teeth before you kiss me."

He poked her lightly in the ribs and she laughed. "You're a brat," he said.

She smiled at him sweetly. "And you love me anyway."

His expression turned solemn. "I love you so much that sometimes I can't breathe for it."

She nodded; she understood. It was the same for her. "Good thing we're going away then, huh?" she said. She meant for it to sound light and airy, but it came out shaky.

"I know you're scared," he said. "Lean on me, okay? Let me take some of the burden."

Sansa placed her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I'll be fine; I promise."

Robb did say it aloud, but he worried. What would he do if she changed her mind? What would become of them then?

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The next two weeks went by in a blink. During that time Robb worried more and more that Sansa was going to change her mind. She spent their last two weeks spending more time than she ever had with the family and when Robb saw the worry and sadness in her eyes he tensed. He felt as though he'd spent those last two weeks bracing for the moment she'd tell him she couldn't do this.

But she didn't.

And now it was the day.

Robb had told his father he had some things to do before classes started in the fall that day, and Sansa had simply taken a vacation day to run a few errands.

Robb had even made a big show of leaving. He'd gone to get a few last minute things for their trip, and when he'd returned and it was just him and Sansa alone, they packed quickly – mostly clothes, but they did fill a few boxes with personal items. Basically anything that would fit in boxes in the back of their cars is what they took. They'd made arrangements with a company that would ship both their cars to California to meet them at the airport.

Sansa was quiet. Too quiet. She moved as though on auto-pilot and with each minute that passed, Robb worried more and more that they would get to the gate to board the plane and she would back out. He was terrified of it happening, so terrified he couldn't even speak the thought out loud in fear of _making_ it happen somehow. On the way to the airport he kept checking his rearview mirror to make sure she was still behind him.

 _Everything is going to be fine_ , he told himself. _Sansa loves me, and she wants us to be together. It's going to be okay._

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Catelyn arrived at home in the afternoon and started to make tea, first thing. It wasn't often she had the house to herself, so she was going to capitalize on that by curling up with her book on the deck and sipping her tea.

She had just gotten her tea prepared when there was a knock at the door. She sighed and went to answer it, and was pleasantly surprised to see Jeyne Westerling on the other side. "Hello, Jeyne," Catelyn greeted her. "Looking for Robb?"

Jeyne smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I haven't seen him in a while."

Catelyn furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? Didn't you just see him a few days ago?"

Now Jeyne looked confused. "I haven't seen Robb in almost a month."

"He's been dating your friend though," Catelyn said. Was the girl sick or something? "You've been on double dates."

"I'm not sure what he told you, Mrs. Stark, but he's not dating Talisa. They didn't even go out on date one."

Catelyn heard a roaring in her ears. "Excuse me, please," she said hastily and shut the door before practically running down to Robb's bedroom.

"Oh God," she breathed when she saw how stark the room was of his things. She then ran up to Sansa's room. It was the same. She sat down on Sansa's bed and knew. She knew it. She got up on shaky legs and started to leave the room to get to a phone when she saw a piece of paper with the logo of Delta Airlines on it. She picked it up.

Robb and Sansa were leaving for California in an hour.

Catelyn stuffed the paper in her pocket and ran to the car, hoping she had enough time to stop them.


	29. Chapter 29

Their cars and belongings were on their way and after checking in at the airline desk, checking their baggage, and going through security, they were sitting together and waiting for their flight to be announced. Robb took Sansa's hand as they sat together and she squeezed his hard.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Thirsty?"

She shook her head again.

Robb leaned in closer to her and whispered in her ear, "Sansa, talk to me, please."

"I'm just…thinking."

"About…?"

"Just everything."

"Can you give me a for example?"

"I'm thinking about the moment when they realize we're gone. I'm wondering what Mom will tell them. What she'll tell Dad. I'm thinking about how long it will take for our cars to arrive. I'm wondering if I'll find a job and if you'll get the job you'll be interviewing for. I'm wondering about the furniture in the apartment and the apartment itself – will it not be like the pictures at all? Will it be gross? I'm wondering if Arya or one of the boys will move into my bedroom now or if they'll keep it just the way it is like in the movies when someone dies." Tears started to fall from her cheeks then. "I'm thinking I hope I don't get airsick and I hope they show a good movie. I'm thinking about Dad going to court next week for that case he's been working on and if there is a way to find out how well he did."

"Sansa," Robb said, and turned in his chair so he could wrap his arms around her. His voice was thick with emotion and he felt tears of his own sting his eyes. She leaned into him as he held her and buried her face in his shoulder. "Do you want to go back?" he murmured.

"What would happen if we did?"

"I…I'm not sure I can," Robb said, his heart shattering in his chest. He fought the urge to crumble right there. He was losing her all over again. He couldn't live through it this time. "If they know by now, or if they're piecing together…I might not be able to go back."

"Flight 182 to San Diego is boarding now," came the voice over the intercom.

Sansa froze. Robb did too. He felt like he couldn't breathe. His chest felt constricted and his hands were shaking. Was this it? Was this where he lost her?

Sansa pulled back and looked at him. "It's time to go."

"Are you sure?" he forced himself to ask.

She nodded, but she didn't meet his eyes. They stood and grabbed their carry-ons and Robb put one foot in front of the other and held onto Sansa's hand so tight she told him he was crushing it. He loosened his grip, but refused to let go.

The walk to the gate took forever though in reality it was only a few feet away. His heart raced. His wasn't breathing right. Fear had gripped him. When would he be able to relax? When they got on the plane? When they got to California? What about when they called their family when they got there? Would Sansa decide then to leave? When would he not be afraid that Sansa would change her mind?

"Sansa! Robb!"

There was a roaring in Robb's ears and he turned as if underwater to see their Mother running toward them. "No," he muttered. "No. No." He wanted to push through all the people and drag Sansa on board with him. He'd pick her up and carry her on if he had to. Catelyn could not be here now, this could not be happening. For sure Sansa would change her mind now, seeing their mother.

Robb moved in front of Sansa; he wanted to shield her. It was fruitless, it wouldn't work, but if he could just keep their mother from getting to Sansa…

"Mom?" Sansa whispered. She stared at their mother waving to them as she stood there. For Sansa it felt like a dream. Her mother could not be here. How was this possible? This was not part of the plan…

"Don't," Robb said sternly when Catelyn reached them. He jutted his arm out as if to stop Catelyn from getting any closer. There was only stanchion posts in between them, there was no real barrier. Robb wasn't much of one either, but he seemed to fancy himself as such from the way he planted himself in front of Sansa.

"Don't do this," Catelyn begged. Tears streamed down her face. "Please don't do this. You can't."

"We can. We are," Robb said. "I know you don't like it—"

"There isn't a word strong enough for how I feel about this!"

People started to go around them, but they were all oblivious to it.

"You can't get on that plane and leave your family like this," Catelyn continued. "And you can't be together!" She peered over Robb's shoulder. "Sansa, honey, do you remember…before?"

Sansa moved around Robb and his arm jutted out as if to stop her. She put her hand on his arm and looked at him. He lowered his arm. She could plainly see the torment on his face. The desperation. The abject fear.

"I remember some things," Sansa said quietly. "I love him, Mom."

"You can't, Sansa, you know you can't," Catelyn hissed. "Do you remember what happened the last time then? Do you remember the accident?"

Sansa nodded.

"That happened because of what you did with Robb," Catelyn spat. "If you get on that plane and go do down this path, terrible things will happen. This is not right and it's not natural and you will be punished for it."

"By who?" Robb snapped. "God? Give me a break, Mother."

Catelyn ignored him though and focused on Sansa. "Sansa, how can you leave me? Your father? Bran, Rickon, and Arya? Remember how we took care of you after your accident. You built a life for yourself. If you come with me now, we'll sort it out."

It was already happening, just as Sansa had thought. The lines were being drawn. She was the one her mother saw as having been corrupted by Robb. He was right. If she stayed he wouldn't be able to go with her. He'd have to go away again. This time for good.

"Ma'am, Sir, we really need you to board the plane now," the attendant at the end of the ropes said.

Sansa looked and saw that it was just them now. In just a few feet they would be able to board their plane. In just a few steps she would leave behind her family and her life to start a new one with Robb.

If she went.

But if she stayed…

She looked at Robb who was watching her intently. His back was straight, he had tears in his eyes, and she could see a tremble go through his body. She met his eyes, those beautiful blue eyes she loved so much. Her eyes ran over his face. There were those lips she loved so much. That beard that tickled her. The silky curls she loved to run her fingers through.

Then she looked at her Mother and took a step toward her. Robb let out whimper. "Sansa, no."

Catelyn looked hopeful. "Are you coming, Sansa? Say you're coming with me."

Sansa shook her head. "No, Mom. I'm not. I love Robb, and I'm going to stay with Robb." Tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry. I hope one day you can accept it, if not understand it."

"Sansa," Robb croaked, and his breath was ragged when he drew some air into his lungs.

"Sansa, don't do this," Catelyn said and began to sob.

Sansa grabbed Robb's hand and hurriedly pulled him with her to the attendant that looked ready to murder them. He glared at them, but Sansa didn't care. As soon as they were done with their tickets, Sansa yanked on Robb's hand and they ran down the terminal to the plane.

Just as they were about to step onto the plane, Robb tugged on her hand and drew her in his arms. He spun her around, laughing, with tears streaming down his face and kissed her as if she really was about to say goodbye.

He broke the kiss and set her down and the two stepped onto the plane and into their future.

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Thank you readers & reviewers! I'd love to know what you think!


	30. Chapter 30

A crowded plane was not the place to discuss what had just happened with their mother. It was bad enough that as soon as they sat down together, they'd both looked around like Nervous Nellie's at the people that surrounded them. Robb knew it was a conditioned response from having to hide what they were and what they felt. It was probably going to take some getting used to.

Nevertheless, Robb grabbed Sansa's hand and kissed the back of it. "I love you," he murmured. She put her other hand over his and smiled at him. It was a bit watery, but it was still a smile.

He knew that it was going to take some time, and that even though she had chosen him – _them_ – she was still sad about leaving the family behind. He was as well, but not in quite the same way. He'd had a pretty good idea at how this was going to go down from the start, plus he'd had his time away from the family already. Granted, this might be completely different than before because at least then he'd known his family was at least there and this time that was an uncertainty, but he would take it as it came. It would be an adjustment and he hated the idea of his father (and the rest of his siblings) despising him and thinking of him as some kind of pervert as his mother must now think of him, but to live his life without the _love_ of his life? No.

When Sansa ordered an alcoholic beverage when the stewardess came around, Robb didn't say anything. She'd earned that drink. He got a water. Before the in-flight movie started (Cinderella), Sansa stared out the window, her head resting back on the seat, clearly lost in thought. Robb didn't know what to say to make her feel better. Was there really anything at all to say at this point? It was just something they were both going to have to deal with now.

She rolled her head toward him and he rested his back against the seat to meet her gaze. "I want to go swimming," she said.

"You mean when we get there?"

"Yeah, but just in general."

"The water is definitely warmer."

"Will you teach me how to surf?"

He grimaced. "You might have to let me warm up to it first considering I haven't done it in a while."

"Only if I can point and laugh when you wipe out."

He chuckled. "That means I get to do the same when you do."

She frowned thoughtfully. "Okay, then maybe I won't. So, will you be contacting any of your friends?"

"At some point I will."

"Do they know…will they know…?"

"That you're my—"

"Yeah," she said and shot him a look that clearly said 'Don't say it out loud!'

"No. It's not like I showed them photos or anything."

She arched a brow and smirked. "So you didn't have any pictures of me?"

He smiled. "Of course I did. But you were alone in them, and I wasn't going to share them with anyone."

"Were they…naughty pictures?" she asked, her voice dropping low. "Because I don't know how I feel about that if that's the case."

"No…much to my chagrin."

Sansa laughed and punched him lightly on the thigh. She sighed. "I'm sorry I worried you."

Robb nodded and looked down, just the memory of how he thought he was losing her again causing him to choke up. "Do you regret it?" he asked hoarsely.

She placed her hand on the side of his face and he looked up at her. "No," she said with a soft smile. "I don't want to be without you, Robb."

Robb darted a glance around them, checking to see if anyone was looking their way. No one was, and besides – what did it matter? No one on this plane knew what they were. No one in California would either. To the rest of the world, right now, they were merely two people in love.

Robb leaned over and kissed her, stopping himself from going too far. Sansa smiled against his mouth. "So, is this your official stance on PDA then? It's fine with you?"

He laughed softly and nodded. "I don't plan to grope you or anything, but yeah."

She yawned then and Robb arched a brow. "Am I boring you?"

She smiled lazily. "No, my drink is catching up with me."

"Put your head on my shoulder, sweetheart, and take a nap. We've got a ways to go yet."

Sansa smiled tiredly and did just that. After a while, Robb joined her in slumber.

xxxxxxxxx

Once they'd arrived in California and retrieved their luggage and rental car that they'd be using until their vehicles arrived, Robb drove them to their landlord's office where they would be picking up their keys for their apartment. Their landlord was also a realtor, which had made both Sansa and Robb a little unsure about how truthful she would be about the place, but then Robb had gone on to talk to her on the phone and assured Sansa that Mandi with an 'i' was on the up and up.

As Robb drove them to the office, Sansa thought it was a good thing Robb knew his way around, because she was going to need help. California already looked like a foreign land compared to Winterfell. She peered out the window of the car feeling as though everyone they passed was a celebrity for the sheer fact that they lived here. It was the same when she'd once visited New York. Everyone had felt like a celebrity to her there, too.

Mandi's office was in a small nondescript building on a busy strip of shops and restaurants. It looked a bit...dumpy, and Sansa started to worry. Mandi herself had blond hair, blue eyes, and big boobs. She also had leathery skin and Sansa thought she might have been somewhere between twenty-five and…fifty. When Robb introduced them to her, the other woman got up from behind her desk and enveloped Robb in a hug that lasted much longer than it needed to. "I feel like I know you, Robb Stark of Winterfell. I always had a smile on my face when I talked to you!" Mandi gushed.

Sansa cleared her throat and folded her arms across her chest.

Robb pulled out of Mandi's embrace and reached for Sansa, drawing her in front of him. "This is my si— my girlfriend, Alayne," he said. "The one I'll be living with."

Sansa was too caught up in having Robb introduce her as his girlfriend and as her alias to process anything else after that.

Mandi shook Sansa's hand limply. "Well then," the other woman said, "let's get you off to your new home. I'll let you follow me there."

"You don't have to—" Robb began, but was cut off by Mandi. "Nonsense," she said. "I want to make sure it's all to your liking. If it's not, then I need to find you a new place!"

Mandi led the way and Sansa just looked at Robb with wide eyes. She felt a tad overwhelmed at the moment. Robb wrapped an arm about her shoulders and placed a kiss on her temple. "It's going to be all right," he murmured.

Sansa hoped he was right.

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The building itself was on a quiet street, and it wasn't really a building at all but a house. On the outside, it looked fine, like any typical three story house that had apartments in them. It was white with black shutters and had a porch that led inside to a set of hardwood stairs. There was a hallway that led to the downstairs apartment, then on the second floor there was another hallway. A door just off the stairs led to Robb and Sansa's apartment, and down the hall was another set of stairs that led to the top floor.

Sansa was pleasantly surprised by their apartment. It was just like the pictures, with only a few minor flaws – there was some kind of water stain or something on the hardwood floor in the living room but it wasn't anything an area rug couldn't cover. The plain white furniture in the living room was a little too…white. Sansa was already thinking of ways to add color to the furniture with slip covers for the couch and recliners. The best part was the set of doors that led out to a balcony. Sansa knew where she would be spending most of her time!

The living was tiny, but in a cozy way and there was a small kitchen table table tucked in the corner in front of doors that led to the balcony. The kitchen appliances were new as were the countertops. The bedroom was off the kitchen and had a king-sized bed, and a wrought iron headboard. She caught a flash in her mind of tying Robb's wrists to the bedposts and felt a blush come on.

The bathroom was off the bedroom and was pretty standard as bathrooms went. It was long rather than wide, and it had a window which Sansa liked.

"Well?" Mandi asked as she rocked back and forth on her pumps. "Do we like it?"

Robb looked at Sansa and she nodded with a smile. He looked relieved and smiled at Mandi. "We do."

"Yay!" Mandi exclaimed and clapped her hands together.

There were some forms for Robb to fill out and Sansa let him. It occurred to her that in all her research about name changes, she hadn't looked up California's laws. Well, Sansa knew what she'd be doing later. _Or we could just tell people we're married_ , Sansa thought and looked at Robb, wondering what he would think of that. It would certainly make the whole name change a little easier because she might not actually have to do it.

While Robb signed the lease, Sansa made her way out onto the balcony. They had a view of the tree-lined street and their neighbor's small backyard. Sansa sat down in the plastic chair tucked in the corner.

She still felt overwhelmed. It all felt rather surreal to her still. They were really here in California. Had their mother really tried to stop them that afternoon? Had that really happened just seven hours ago? Their father had to know now. And perhaps their siblings. She tried to picture Arya taking the news and all she could see was horror on her sister's face in her mind's eye.

"Hey." Sansa looked up and found Robb standing in the doorway. "You okay?"

She nodded and forced a smile. "I am. We ready to get our luggage?"

He nodded. "And then I suppose we should go shopping."

"Yes," she said. "We need bedding."

Robb held out his hand and she took it as she stood up. He pulled her arms around his waist and then took her face in his hands and kissed her slowly. "I love you," he murmured against her mouth and then trailed kisses down to her neck.

Sansa laughed and pushed at him. "Not now, big boy."

He looked down at her and she could see the worry on his face and in his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Tears stung her eyes. "I'm just a little overwhelmed."

"What can I do?"

"You can take me out to get bedding for our bed," she said and wiped furiously at the tears that fell. "And food."

"Sansa—"

"If I think about it I'll fall apart. I don't want to fall apart right now. I just want to get done what we need to get done and think about it later, okay? Please?"

He sighed and nodded. "Okay."

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It was 9 p.m. by the time Sansa and Robb were finished unpacking what little they had, stopping for dinner, and then shopping to get what they needed as far as bedding and groceries. It might have been only 9 p.m. in California, but it was midnight their time back home.

Sansa took a shower after they'd unpacked the groceries and made the bed, and Robb used that time to check his phone. No calls. They were probably all processing.

When he heard Sansa come out of the bathroom he wandered into their bedroom and watched her crawl into their newly made bed. He'd let Sansa choose the bedding. She'd chosen blue paisley sheets and matching comforter. They'd gotten two pillows each with matching pillowcases. Sansa claimed the side closest to the wall and flopped there on her side. Robb went over to the AC in the window beside his side of the bed and turned it on.

She didn't move; she just lay there looking utterly wiped – and sexy. She wore green shorts and a matching tank top. She blinked up at him and Robb wanted to crawl in next to her, but he wanted to shower first.

He got down on his knees on the bed and leaned down to kiss her. "I'm going to take a shower and join you, okay?" he murmured.

She nodded.

"Don't fall asleep," he said and pointed at her in mock sternness.

Her lips quirked into a grin. "I won't."

But by the time he got out of the shower, she was fast asleep. Robb's heart sank, but he knew she needed rest. Hell, so did he. It was just that this was their first night in their new place and in their first bed together. This was the first time they would fall asleep in each other's arms without thinking how Sansa had to make it back to her room before anyone caught them.

Robb stared down at the love of his life and hoped she didn't regret her choice. She'd been quiet and distant since they'd arrived in California and he worried…God, he worried.

He crawled in next to her and pulled her close. She murmured his name and cuddled into him, her hand pressed up against his heart. Robb kissed her forehead and fell asleep soon after.

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Thank you, everyone! I do like to know what you're thinking...


	31. Chapter 31

Robb woke slowly the next morning, and it took him a few seconds to get his bearings. California. Apartment. In bed with Sansa.

He couldn't help the smile that blossomed on his face as he rolled over to see her. She was curled away from him, facing the wall. He wanted to wake her up with kisses, but he also didn't want to disrupt her sleep. They'd both had quite the day the day before. He still felt tired himself. Not enough to go back to sleep, but the kind of tired where he thought it would be a good day to not do much.

Actually, it would be a great day to just stay in bed. With Sansa of course. Sex was considered exercise, right? He couldn't think of a better way to reach target heart rate than by making love to her all day.

She shifted beside him, stretching her legs and groaning. Robb grinned and scooted closer to her; he wrapped an arm about her and splayed his hand on her belly. He nuzzled at her neck. "Good morning, love," he murmured.

She stiffened, which was a bit disconcerting, and then she relaxed. "Good morning," she said.

"How do you feel?" he asked. He fingered the strap of her tank top and then moved it away and kissed her bare shoulder.

Sansa moved away from him, and her elbow got him in the stomach. He let out a grunt and she climbed out of bed and looked down at him apologetically. "Sorry."

"Where are you going?" he asked. He held out a hand. "Come back here."

"Have to pee," she said and headed to the bathroom.

Robb sighed and ran a hand through his curls. Hopefully when she returned they could back to the business of some foreplay. Of course, his own need to relieve himself soon became apparent, but he wouldn't move if it meant Sansa would come back and join him in the bed.

But she didn't. She emerged from the bathroom looking as though she'd brushed her hair, too. She looked down at him and smiled and then said, "I want eggs" before heading to the kitchen.

Robb's jaw clenched. Okay, so she didn't want to spend their first morning together alone christening their new bed. That was fine. Disappointing, but fine. _She's still processing_ , he told himself.

It still hurt though, even as he told himself that this was all new to her. He'd lived away from home before so this wasn't all that different, though the circumstances were a bit stressful…but Sansa hadn't felt the pain of their separation while he'd been away because she didn't remember them. She didn't know that this was preferable to that.

 _She needs time to adjust_ , he thought. _And with the scene at the airport…she's not changing her mind, she's just processing it._

"How do you want your eggs?" she called from the kitchen.

"Scrambled," he called back, and then crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom.

After he came out of the bathroom and joined Sansa in the kitchen, she had two plates out on the counter and was scrambling eggs in a pan on the stove. Coffee was percolating, and toast was in the toaster.

"What can I do?" he asked. He wanted to go to her, wanted to press himself against her back and steal a kiss or two or three, but he was afraid of being rejected again.

"Orange juice?" she asked.

He nodded and got out two glasses for orange juice. They didn't much in the way of glasses and mugs and utensils, but they'd gotten enough to get them through as they hadn't wanted to spend too much money.

"Is there anything you'd like to do today?" he asked as he poured the orange juice.

Sansa shut off the stove and carried the pan over to ration out the eggs. "The beach?"

"Sure," he said. "Do you have your bathing suit?"

"Yup." She put the pan in the sink and went to the microwave and turned it on. There was a plate of bacon inside. The toast popped and she grabbed the slices and placed one on his plate and one on hers. Robb got the butter and in silence they prepared their breakfast.

He wanted to ask her how she was feeling, what she was thinking. He wanted to know if she'd checked her phone, if she'd heard from anyone in the family. Yet he didn't want to push.

This wasn't how he'd imagined things going. He supposed the romantic in him had imagined they'd be all over each other with blissful smiles on their faces that couldn't be contained. Instead, Sansa was distant and he felt on edge waiting, it felt like, for her to tell him she wanted to go back home.

He wondered if hearing from home would help. If their family had in fact decided to disown them – and he wasn't so indifferent that he didn't feel pained at the thought – would it make clear to Sansa that they could not go back? Or, Christ, would it make her want to return home all the more?

Robb stared at his phone on the counter and though part of him wanted to check, he left it alone.

xxxxxxx

Robb was pretty sure that Sansa meant to kill him with the black bikini she wore to the beach. He couldn't take his eyes off her and from the looks of the men around them, neither could they. "Will you get my back, Robb?" she asked him after they'd set out a blanket and their tote bag with water, some snacks and towels.

Robb kneeled behind her and Sansa drew her hair over her shoulder and down her front to give him access. He wondered how he was going to do this without getting hard because all he wanted to do was kiss every inch of her body and slide his hands all over her.

He looked around them, looking to see if anyone was watching them and thinking he had couldn't give himself away. He caught himself a second later. No one knew who they were here, he reminded himself. Here, Sansa was his girlfriend and if he wanted to nuzzle her neck or steal a few kisses he could.

It was on the tip of Robb's tongue to whisper how hot she looked in the bikini, but since she'd been distant all morning and dodging any touches from him, he figured that would be a bad idea. So, he slathered her back with sunblock and then she slathered him with sunblock and then they trekked down to the water together.

"It is warm!" Sansa exclaimed and smiled at him

They went in further until their waists were submerged and Sansa just stood there, staring out at the ocean and looking lost in thought.

"Sansa?"

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

To talk about it or not to talk about it. He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Will you tell me about how you learned to surf?" she asked.

He decided to take a chance. He held out his hand, his heart in his throat. "Only if you come closer."

She took his hand without even thinking about it and allowed him to draw her in close. He bent his head and nuzzled the side of her face. She placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him with a gentle smile on her face.

He talked to her about how he learned to surf, how he'd wiped out a lot and a couple times thought he might drown.

"I don't think I want you to do that then," she said.

"I got better. I learned what to do."

She rested her head on his chest and Robb held her close. He wanted to tell her loved her, that he would do anything for her, anything to make this better if she'd only tell him how, but he was afraid to speak. She was that wild animal again. Any sudden moves and he might drive her away.

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Sansa stared at her phone that had remained shut off since she and Robb had boarded the plane for California. She had thought about looking at it yesterday and after they'd arrived – had thought about it all day actually, but she had been afraid to.

She kept thinking about home, about how they were taking the news and they felt about her and Robb now. Part of her had the insane hope that they'd all say that they loved her and Robb anyway and it didn't matter to them what they did. In her head, it was her father that was first hit hard and then declared that he loved his kids and if they were in love then who was he to judge?

Sansa knew that wasn't logical, but she couldn't help but wish it all the same.

And now, while Robb was in the shower and Sansa was freshly showered and sitting on their couch in the living room she held her phone in her hands and tried to work herself up to turning it on.

"Just do it," she muttered to herself. "The not knowing is going to drive you crazier. Just do it."

So she did. As usual it took a few seconds for messaged and missed calls to come in. There were a few missed calls from her mother, only one from her Dad, and then a text from Arya.

 _You and Robb are gross. I can't believe you've done this. I've always know there was something wrong with you, Sansa._

Arya might as well have reached through the phone and slapped her. When Robb came out to join her in a t-shirt and boxers he found her with tears streaming down her face. She showed him the text and his jaw clenched. He deleted the message pulled Sansa onto his lap. He held her there while she cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back and stroked her hair until she calmed down long enough to talk.

It all came tumbling out. The fear that their family hated them and thought just as Arya did. The fear that they really would be disowned. Was this something they could explain, she wondered? Was it something they might be able to one day understand? Would it just take time? What if one of them were sick and needed help or in a bad accident?

Robb just held her and let her get it out of her system. This was what she needed. When she'd calmed and quieted, he asked softly, "Do you think like Arya?"

"Sometimes I think there is something wrong with us," she said honestly.

Robb couldn't blame her for that. He'd thought that in the beginning too.

"What do you want to do, sweetheart?" he asked.

She pulled back and looked at him, and wiped at her eyes. "I want to call Mom."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"What do you want to say to her?"

"I just want to know what she told them, what she said. I want to know what Dad thinks, how he's doing…I want to know if we've been disowned."

Robb tucked some hair behind her ear. "What if we have been? Can you live with that?"

"I wish I had an answer to that," she said. "But I don't. I thought I knew how hard this part was going to be…the leaving part. I had no idea until it happened."

"Sansa—"

"I'm not going to leave you," she said. "I'm not going to go back."

"I wish I could say I was sure about that," he said, and his voice shook. "You won't even let me touch you, Sansa. I don't want you to resent me."

"I _don't_ resent you," she said earnestly. "I'm sorry, I – I just can't shut off my brain. I was afraid to know what they were thinking and feeling and now I need to know so that I can deal with it."

Robb took her hands and pressed them to his chest and looked up at her imploringly. "Stop shutting me out. I can't take it when you do that. The only way we're going to work through this is if we do it together. _Please_ , Sansa."

"I'm sorry," she whispered and leaned down to kiss him. "I'm sorry. I love you, Robb, I do."

He moaned and took her face in his hands and kissed her hungrily, desperately. Sansa met his fervent kisses with her own. She straddled him and Robb took a chance and stood, his hands under her bottom.

He carried her into their bedroom – God, yes, _theirs_ – and laid her down on it. He pulled her shorts down and her panties and bent over her and put his mouth on her pussy. He licked, laved, and teased until Sansa was writing under him, her fingers tangled in his hair, begging him to let her cum. He sucked her clit in his mouth and she cried out, tightening her hands in curls. She whimpered and pulled lightly on his hair. "Inside me," she muttered. "Robb, please."

Robb pulled himself way long enough to discard his shirt and boxers and then he climbed over her and pushed her tank top up from her belly and kissed her there. He trailed kisses up to her breasts and she sat up long enough to discard her top. He licked and sucked at one breast before treating the other one with the same attention.

"Robb," she moaned and drew his face up to hers. She kissed him ardently and spread her legs, encasing his hips were her thighs.

Robb kissed her as he reached down and placed himself at her opening. He pushed inside and she let out a long moan and her eyes fluttered shut.

"Look at me," he commanded and her eyes flew open and locked on his.

She was so wet and hot and tight, and Robb was determined to make her come again before he did. He dropped one elbow by her shoulder and dug his hand under her head and drew her up to kiss her soundly as he steadily pumped in and out of her. Her soft skin, her sweet scent, her clutching pussy on his dick, and the whimpers in the back of her throat – he was in heaven. "Tell me you love me," he demanded.

"I love you," she panted.

He grabbed the hand that was on his shoulder and pressed it into the bed over her head as he entwined their fingers. "My Sansa," he muttered and moved faster, harder. "Mine."

"Robb," she whimpered. "I'm going to come."

"Come for me," he growled. "Come on my cock."

That did it. Her eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she cried out as her walls clamped and pulsed around his hard shaft. He thrust hard once, twice, three times, and then came with a gush inside her. He held himself over her as he came and then he collapsed against her and buried his face in her neck.

He felt their clasped hands disengage and she drew her now free hand down his sweat-slickened back. She kissed the side of his face and he lifted his head and looked down at her. He couldn't find his voice to ask if that was okay that he took them to bed.

She smiled a siren's smile and pushed at him. He rolled onto his back and fell out of her and they both shared a moan. She then draped herself over him and started to kiss her way down his body. Robb shut his eyes, tangled his fingers in her silky strands, and braced himself for the pleasure that was about to come. Pun intended.

* * *

 _Please let me know what you thought!:)_


	32. Chapter 32

Sansa woke from her doze to the feel of Robb peppering kisses over her back and one hand rubbing her ass. She was laying on her stomach and she shifted and let out a moan to let him know she was awake. She smiled sleepily when she felt Robb press himself against her back. She could feel his erection against her ass and she pushed back at him in silent invitation.

He bit her lightly on the shoulder and rumbled in her ear, "Ready for round two?"

She rubbed her bottom against his cock and nodded eagerly. She started to turn around, but Robb stayed her and said, "No, stay like this."

She peered over her shoulder at him as he pushed her more firmly against the mattress. "Lift your luscious ass for me, Sansa," he ordered. She did and he stuffed a pillow under her. "Keep your legs together for me, sweetheart."

Sansa bit her lip, wondering how this was going to work exactly and then she felt his thighs encase hers so that he was straddling her. She then felt his cock rub against her pussy and she moaned and gripped the pillow under her head.

"You're so wet," he murmured in appreciation and slowly slid inside her.

Sansa gasped.

"Am I hurting you?" Robb asked.

"No," she said. "You just feel bigger this way."

He pulled back until just the tip of him was inside, paused, and then surged inside her. Sansa gasped again.

"Still good?" he asked.

"Don't stop," she begged as she got up on her elbows and lifted up slightly, clutching the pillow's edge.

He drove her crazy alternating between slow strokes and then fast. He'd bring her to the brink and then back off and slow down.

"Robb, please…" she begged and pushed her ass against him when he started to go slow again.

"Tell me what you want, sweet girl," he said as he drew himself almost completely out of her.

"Make me come, Robb, please, I'm so close."

He pressed his body against hers completely and peppered kisses along her back and neck. "How do you want it, Sansa, you have to tell me."

"Harder. Faster. Please."

He did the opposite of what she asked however and pulled completely out of her, and then moved off of her, kneeling.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she demanded and looked over her shoulder at him.

He put his hands on her hips. "Get on your knees for me, sweetheart."

Sansa shivered. He was going to take her doggy style. She didn't hesitate to get up on all fours, moving the pillow that had been under her stomach out of the way. She wiggled her ass at him and he groaned and slid his hands over the cheeks of her ass.

"Spread your legs for me," he instructed. She did so and he moved in between them and placed a hand between her shoulder blades and pushed. Sansa took the hint and rested her head on the pillow there while keeping her ass up.

Robb slammed inside her and Sansa gasped and cried out, "Yes, God, yes, like that, please!"

"You're going to be the death of me," Robb groaned.

Her? she thought. She was going to be the death of him?! She was pretty sure she was going to combust into flames soon.

He slid out of her slowly and then slammed inside her again. He did this three more times, leaving Sansa pleading with him incoherently to let her come.

He started to pound inside her, fast and hard just as she'd asked. Sansa clutched at the headboard, wrapping her fingers around the wrought iron columns. Robb grunted behind her and she pushed back at him with her ass.

"Fuck me, Sansa," he commanded, his breathing heavy. "Fuck me back."

She drew herself up and curled her fingers around the top of the headboard. She met his thrusts, fucking back at him and then she came so hard she bowed her head down, just clinging to the headboard as her whole body shuddered. Her mouth opened to cry out, but no sound came out and her eyes were shut tight.

Robb continued to pump inside her and then he held himself still as he came. "Sansa, God, yes, squeeze me just like that! Fuck!"

Sansa collapsed to the bed, her arms no longer able to hold her up. Robb followed her down, his front to her back once more.

Tremors continued to pulse through Sansa's body as Robb rolled to his side and drew her with him as though he couldn't bear to let even an inch between their bodies. He wrapped an arm around her and splayed his hand on her belly possessively. He nuzzled at her shoulder and her neck and murmured how much he loved her, how hot she made him, and how she was his and he was hers.

Sansa did something then that surprised her. She started to cry. She'd heard of people experiencing some kind of release through yoga or exercise or meditation – how their energy would shift inside them and they'd experience a release of something they hadn't realized they were holding onto and they'd start to cry. She didn't know it could happen after sex, but that had also been some fucking amazing sex.

"Sansa," Robb said worriedly. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Sansa, talk to me. Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head. "I just love you so much. I knew I loved you before now, but I just – I feel like my heart is going to burst with how much. It's like you're in my bones and my blood. I mean, I know you're in my blood because you're my brother—" She broke off in frustration, tears streaming down her face. "Can you just get what I mean?"

"I do know, I know," he murmured. "Sansa, look at me."

She turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest, wetting him with her tears. Robb grasped her face in his big hands and pulled her face up to his. He kissed her hungrily, desperately, and she swore she could feel his love course through her. Or was it hers, encompassing them both?

When he broke the kiss he looked at her, tears in his eyes. "That's how it's always been for me with you," he told her. "You're everywhere inside me, imprinted on my heart and my soul." He kissed her again. "I thought I was going to lose you," he gasped.

"Never," she promised. She laughed softly. "We're a couple of saps."

"As long as those are happy tears…?"

She smiled and kissed him. "Overwhelmingly happy tears," she said. For a long while they just lay their together, limbs entangled, murmuring their love to each other.

xxxxxxxxx

Later that evening, Robb and Sansa emerged from bed long enough to pop a frozen pizza in the oven. Robb wore a pair of boxer and Sansa wore his t-shirt. He lifted her onto the counter as their pizza baked in the oven and stood between her legs, his hands on either side of her on the counter, and kissed her languidly.

Sansa placed her arms down on his shoulders and looked down at him when their kiss ended. "I have a question," she said.

He smiled. "Yes?"

"When did you know? I mean, can you pinpoint the moment you knew you loved me?"

"It was your freshman year and you came home from school one day in tears because some asshole had made fun of you on the bus. I wanted to rip him apart. I knew it was love because I knew I would have done anything to make you smile. I took you out to dinner and mini-golf and anytime you smiled at me I felt ten feet tall."

"What happened to the boy who teased me?"

Robb laughed and ducked his head. "He may or may not have found his head in the toilet in the boy's locker room."

Sansa laughed. "Just how many heads rolled in your quest to defend me?"

"Not very many. I think people caught on quick that if they messed with you they messed with me."

Robb kissed her and then went to the cabinet to get a couple glasses. Sansa watched him get them both water with ice and she nibbled on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Robb?"

"Hmm?"

"I've been thinking…"

"About?" he asked as he handed her a glass.

Sansa took the glass and tapped her nails against the side. "Well, you know how I was going to change my name and all that?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was thinking unless I have to for whatever reason, maybe I could keep mine?"

He frowned and finished his sip of water. "But people will know we're related."

"Not necessarily."

"What are we going to tell people? That it's a coincidence we have the same last name?"

"We could tell them we're married."

A look of wonder passed over his features and then he broke into a wide smile. "You'd be my wife?"

"Well, maybe not literally but kind of?"

He marched over to her, put his glass down on the counter, then took hers and put it down next to his and grabbed her face and kissed her. "We'll need rings. We could have our own ceremony—"

"Robb, slow down," she laughed. "We don't need rings right away. When we start working, okay? You have that interview Monday, right?"

He nodded, but it was like he didn't hear her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Wrap your legs around me," he muttered.

She did, wondering what he had in mind. Then he picked her up and carried her to the couch. She laughed as they descended upon it as one beast. "What about our dinner?" she asked when he stood to discard his boxers. He was hard. Sansa removed his shirt and reached for him.

"The buzzer will go off," he said and came to lay down on top of her.

Sansa kissed him and wrapped her arms around him. "The idea of wearing rings turns you on, huh?"

"The idea of you being mine wholly and completely turns me on." He placed his fingers at her opening and sank one finger inside her while rubbing her clit. "To the world, you'll be my wife."

Sansa moaned and arched her back. She reached between them and stroked his cock as he fingered her. He moaned and Sansa lifted her hips.

"Put me inside you," he whispered.

She placed him at her opening and Robb slowly pushed inside her. He started a steady rhythm inside her and then bent his head and took one breast into his mouth, and then the next. It was as if there was a direct line to her pussy from her breasts when he did that. She clenched her muscles around him and he groaned. "Do that again."

 _Thank you, Cosmo, for those articles on Kegel exercises_ , she thought and clenched around him again and again.

"Sansa," he gasped. "God, I love you so much."

"Kiss me," she commanded.

He obliged her, his tongue slipping inside her mouth, mimicking the action of his cock.

Sansa buried her hands in his hair at the nape of his neck. "I'm so close…"

"Come for me, sweetheart. Come on…" he urged. He started to go faster. Harder.

Sansa lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist and he went even deeper inside her.

"Oh God, you're so deep inside me," she moaned.

Robb pressed his forehead against hers as he moved forward, digging his knees into the couch and jackhammering inside her.

Sansa dug her nails in his shoulders and came. "Robb, oh fuck, yes!"

Robb thrust hard three times and shouted as he came inside her.

And then the buzzer went off for their pizza.

Sansa laughed as she drew him down for kiss. "Perfect time, honey."

He grinned. "I'm a man of many talents."

"You'll get no argument from me on that," she murmured. "So, um, can you bring the food here? I don't think I can move."

He laughed and kissed her. "As you wish, mi'lady."

* * *

Looks like Robb got his wish for a sex-a-thon!


	33. Chapter 33

Robb woke the next morning to Sansa curled around him. He smiled before he even opened his eyes, feeling her head upon his chest, one leg over both of his, and an arm across his stomach.

"Finally, you're awake," she said.

He pried his eyes open and looked down at her. "Have you been awake long?"

"No, not very, but I was getting hungry and thinking I wanted you to make me an omelet."

Robb shifted under her and Sansa moved to her side while Robb moved to his so he could look at her. "Do you know how to cook?" he asked her.

"Pasta."

"That's not cooking," he chuckled.

"I made us breakfast yesterday."

He smiled. "You did. It's not a big deal, I just wondered." He rolled onto his back and Sansa saw a teasing smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "But I do except to have a hot home-cooked meal on the table when I come home from a long day—"

Sansa smacked him and he laughed. She climbed atop him straddling him and sat up. She looked down at him and smiled. Robb grinned up at her and placed his hands on her hips. "I love you," he said.

She leaned down and kissed him. "I love you, too."

"What do you think I show you around today?" he murmured.

She sat back up. "Can you also show me the university campus?"

"Of course."

She sighed. "I need to find out what I need to teach here."

"We'll figure it out."

"I know, it just feels like work," she groaned and climbed off of him. She went to her side, putting her back to him and it was Robb's turn to wrap himself around her. "I just don't want to deal with any of it right now. I will, but it all feels so overwhelming."

Robb kissed her shoulder. "Sansa, we just got here. We both have a lot to deal with right now with just what it took to get here. I feel it, too."

She looked at him over her shoulder. "You do?"

"Yes."

She frowned and buried the side of her head in the pillow. "But you've been here before; it's different for you."

"Let me help. We'll do the research for what you need to teach—"

"We need to call home, Robb," Sansa said softly.

He pushed his forehead against her shoulder. "I know."

"I want to do it and yet I'm afraid to do it. I need to know what...what they think." She pursed her lips together. "I know what Arya thinks," she said bitterly.

"I wish I could tell you that it's going to be okay, but I can't promise that."

"This is one of those times when your eternal optimism would be a help."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart."

They both fell into silence. Sansa contemplated calling home and what would be said while Robb wished he could make this easier for both of them. He wasn't so much worried about himself, but he was worried about Sansa and how she would handle whatever came. He had already rather resigned himself to the fact that it wouldn't go well; that they'd probably be disowned and while that did hurt – a lot – he knew that he and Sansa had come too far and for him turning back wasn't an option.

He did wonder though, if it would be for her. Their mother had certainly approached the situation at the airport as if Sansa was the one she could reach. Though Sansa had made her choice, Robb didn't think that would be enough to stop Catelyn – and possibly Ned – from trying again.

Despite Sansa's avowals of love and the incredible sex-a-thon they'd experienced, Robb had his reservations. He figured just like he'd told Sansa that everything would come in come, his trust that she wouldn't decide to leave him after all would come in time as well.

xxxxxxxxx

Sansa wasn't ready to call home yet and Robb was willing to oblige her in whatever she needed to do to prepare herself. Turned out that meant going to the hardware store to look at paint. Mandi had told them they were free to paint, just as long as they painted the walls back to white in the event they moved.

Sansa just wanted to collect some paint samples and take a look at slip covers for their couch (that would be in another store). Since this constituted as also showing her around, Robb was up for it.

Robb went to look for tools they might need for the apartment while Sansa went for the paint samples. He was perusing through toolboxes when he heard someone say his name. He looked up and found Jessica, one of his exes. It had been an amicable split so Jessica greeted him with a wide smile and a hug.

"I had run into Paul not too long ago and he said you'd gone back home! You're back now? Just for a visit or…?"

Robb scratched the back of his neck. "I'm back. For good."

"Well, I'm really happy to see you. You know, I thought of calling you so many times, but I didn't know if you'd be happy to hear from me or if you were seeing someone. Maybe we could get together sometime and—"

"Honey, are you ready?"

Robb looked over to find Sansa coming over, paint samples in hand. She came up to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I found a bunch of – oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?" She certainly sounded innocent and looked innocent as she looked at Jessica. Robb had to hold back a laugh. She was quite the little actress.

"Sweetheart, this is a friend of mine. Jessica. Jessica, this is my fiancé, Sansa."

Sansa peeled herself off of him and extended her hand to Jessica who looked a bit upset by this new development. Jessica stared at her hand and Sansa must have took note of it for she said, "My ring is being resized."

Jessica shook Sansa's hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sansa. If you'll excuse me." Hurriedly, Jessica walked off.

"That's right," Sansa muttered. "Keep going…"

Robb grabbed her hand and tugged her against him, her back to his front. He nuzzled her neck. "You're a little minx, you know that?"

She giggled and spun herself in his arms and kissed him. "You like it when I get a little territorial though, don't you?" she whispered hotly.

"I love it," he growled and nipped at her lips. "Let's say we go home and I show you how much?"

Sansa was about to answer him when her phone went off, signaling a text message. She froze and looked at Robb with fear in her eyes.

"Let me see," Robb said gently and held out his hand. Sansa dug into the purse, extracted her phone, and handed it to him.

He looked down at it and frowned.

"Well?" she said anxiously.

Robb sighed. "It's Mom. She wants to talk."

xxxxxx

The ride home was met with silence. Sansa could practically feel Robb's worry rolling off of him in waves. She was worried, too, but she suspected their worries were different. He didn't trust her to stay. Sansa didn't know how to assuage his fears, and right now she didn't feel she like had much to give when it came to comfort since she felt completely all over the place herself.

She felt like she wouldn't know how to handle any of this until she talked to her mother, and yet she feared it too. Hence the trip into town. But she couldn't avoid it anymore.

Once they were home in their apartment, Sansa went to the couch and curled her feet under her. She held her phone in her hand and waited for Robb to join her. He came over and sat down next to her, his expression grim.

Sansa dialed her mother and put the phone on speaker. She then placed the phone on the coffee table and waited for her mother to answer.

"Sansa?" came Catelyn's voice through the phone.

"Hi, Mom," Sansa said.

"Is Robb with you?"

"I am," he said.

"They know," Catelyn said. "Your family knows. Bran is holed up in his room. Rickon doesn't want to talk about it and Arya—"

"We know how Arya feels," Sansa said.

"Your father…" Catelyn sighed. "Your father is beside himself. He's furious with me for not having told him the first time around, and he's been stomping about yelling at everyone. Sansa…Sansa, I want you to come home. You can make this better if you come home."

"Not me though, huh?" Robb interjected bitterly.

"Robb, he – your father – he's angry with you as well."

"How is he not angry with me?" Sansa asked.

"He thinks Robb came home for the sole purpose to start things up again. He said, and I agree with him, that your job as the eldest was to watch out for your siblings, not corrupt them. Instead of protecting your sister, you sullied her. And when you had the chance to make it right, you did it again. In time, perhaps, he will change his mind…"

"Neither of you can change how we feel about each other," Robb spat. "I didn't corrupt Sansa. I didn't hurt her. I didn't rape her—"

"He believes you did, and the fact that you are his son and he loves you is why he will not press charges. He thinks you took advantage of Sansa's weakened mind—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sansa interrupted. " _Weakened_ mind?"

"From your accident."

"That was five years ago, Mom! My mind is not weakened!" Sansa exclaimed.

"Sansa, your father is looking for a way to understand this. Quite frankly, I don't think he will be able to. I still can't, and I had quite a long time to deal with the knowledge that my son and my daughter were having sex."

"It wasn't just sex, Mother!" Robb shouted. "You reduce it to its—"

Sansa put a hand on his arm. "Robb, stop," she said. She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "No amount of explaining is going to make them get it. No one would. We knew that we were in this alone. We can't ask them to understand something that we don't either."

Robb's hands balled into fists, and he jumped to his feet and started to pace.

"Sansa, honey, please come home. I know that you can talk to your father and fix this. You want to help Robb, you can. Just come home and put this family back together. Your father needs you. Your siblings need you. _I_ need you. How can you turn your back on us like this? What are you going to do, hmm? What if something happens and you need help? What if people find out, what will you do? You won't be able to work anywhere. Neither of you. You'll be broke and out on the street—"

"Shut up, Mother," Robb said harshly. "Stop filling her head with all the worst case scenarios so you can scare her into returning to you. You think we haven't thought of all this already?"

"Robb, I am not the enemy," Catelyn said sternly. "I love you, but I cannot accept this and neither can your father. Nor can your siblings. You've torn this family apart due to your…your sickness. Sansa, honey, are you still there?"

Sansa wiped at the tears that rolled down her face and sniffed. "I'm here," she said softly.

"If you come home now we can work on this and make you better. We can help Robb, too."

"And if I don't?" Sansa asked. She saw Robb stop pacing and look at her out of the corner of her eye.

It sounded like Catelyn started to cry. "Then you've alienated your family and this is it – you can't decide later on when things fall apart that you can just come back home. Think about what this means, Sansa. Think about what you'll be doing if you decide to stay. There will be no contact anymore. Not ever. Is that what you want?"

Sansa sucked in a shuddering breath and looked at Robb who stared back at her pleadingly. He didn't have to say it, but she could practically her him in her head, begging her not to leave him.

She shut her eyes; she couldn't look at him.

"Sansa?" Catelyn said.

"I'm here," Sansa whispered.

"Well? What do you say?"


	34. Chapter 34

"I need some time to think about this, Mom" Sansa said softly.

Robb's heart plummeted to his feet. He stood rooted to the spot, staring at her, unable to believe she'd actually just said that. "Sansa," he whispered. "No."

She wouldn't look at him. "I'm sorry, Mom, I have to go now," she said and disconnected the call.

She got to her feet and brushed past Robb. He reached out and grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, and her voice shook.

"Why…?"

Tears streamed down her face. "It's the finality of it. No contact ever—"

"You knew that was a possibility. You _knew_ that before, Sansa!"

"Knowing something is a possibility is not the same as having it actually come to pass, Robb."

He pulled her to him and leaned in close so their faces were inches apart. "How can you think about leaving me like this?"

"I'm…"

"What? You're not? You _are_ , Sansa. By telling Mom you need to 'think about this', you are contemplating leaving me. What happened to yesterday, huh? When you cried in my arms and told me how much you loved me? What was that, Sansa?"

"I meant it!"

Then how can you think about leaving me!" he shouted. "She set out to scare you and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker."

"Robb, stop—"

"You said you don't have a weakened mind, but maybe you actually do," he growled.

His head snapped to the side with the force of Sansa's slap. Robb knew he deserved that. As soon as the words had left his mouth he'd regretted them. And he hadn't meant them either.

He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She didn't hug him back. "I'm sorry," he gasped into her hair. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Sansa, I love you. I love you so much."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her desperately. "Sansa, please," he muttered against her lips.

"Robb, I do love you, I do," she said breathlessly.

"Don't leave me," he begged as he lifted her in his arms. Her legs went around his waist as reflex. He carried her to the bedroom and lay her down on the bed. "Don't leave me," he muttered as he started to undo the snap of her jeans.

Sansa grabbed her wrist. "Robb, no."

He looked at her, tears in his eyes. "What do I have to do? What do you want from me?"

She sat up and ran her fingers over his face. He nuzzled into her palm and then she drew him close and kissed him. "You don't have to do anything, and I don't want anything but some space. I just need to think, okay? I need to wrap my head around everything Mom said. I'm sorry, I just…I knew it would be hard I just didn't…I didn't expect…" She started to cry then, a full out sob that wracked her body.

Robb climbed up on the bed with her and pulled her into his arms. Sansa buried her face in his chest and proceeded to cry into his chest. Robb held her tightly while tears streamed down his face.

xxxxxxxx

They'd exhausted themselves, Sansa realized when she awoke a couple hour later. She was practically on top of Robb at that point and he was passed out cold. Sansa moved off of him as carefully as possible, but he jerked awake and looked at her. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," she replied.

He nodded and rolled to his side.

Sansa quickly used the bathroom and when she came back in the room, Robb was still on the bed, laying down with his eyes open and watching her. He held up an arm. "Come back."

"I think I'm going to go for a walk."

"I'll come with you," he said and started to sit up.

"Robb, no. I want to go alone."

"Do you know your way around well enough to do that?"

"I'm sure I can figure it out."

He pursed his lips together and nodded.

"I just need some fresh air and time to think."

He nodded, but said nothing.

She came over to him and lay down next to him. She put her hand on the side of his face. "Please believe me when I say I love you, Robb. Please."

"Maybe I'm not enough," he mumbled.

"No," she said and tears sprang to her eyes. "You are. Please try to understand why I need time…you had a lot of time to get used to the idea of leaving home. I haven't. I wasn't in the same place as you for a really long time, and it all happened so fast…"

"For a while there, you didn't think it was happening fast enough."

She nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I'm all over the place…"

"Go for your walk. We'll talk when you get back."

She started to get up when Robb grabbed her. She looked at him and he looked pained. "You know I didn't mean what I said, right? I don't think your mind is weak, Sansa. You know that, right?"

"I know," she said softly.

"I was just angry at Mom and I'm worried…"

"I know," she said again. "I'm sorry I hit you."

"I deserved it for what I said."

"I think we're both a little emotional."

He laughed sadly. "A little emotional? I'm falling to pieces inside at the thought of you leaving me."

"I'm just going for a walk," she said in an attempt to make him smile. It didn't work.

"You know what I mean, Sansa."

"I know," she murmured. She got up and when she got to the door she looked back at him. "I do love you."

He didn't look like he believed her. And really, how could Sansa blame him for that?

xxxxxxxx

Sansa managed to find her way down to a pier and once there, she sat on a bench overlooking the water and sat down. She shut her eyes and listened to the ebb and flow of the waves and let the wind just wash over her. It was a beautiful day in San Diego and being near the water helped soothe her frayed nerves…well, a little anyway.

She played the conversation with her mother over in her mind and as she thought back on how Robb had been utterly disregarded to the point of being alienated, Sansa realized that Robb was right. Their mother had laid out the worst case scenario and had targeted her as the one she could get to. She supposed due to her lack of memories, Catelyn didn't see her as all that invested. Plus, there was the fact that Robb had been away for so long and Sansa had rebuilt her life without him around.

Plus, she was Daddy's girl. Arya was, too, and quite frankly Sansa had always thought Arya was the favorite. If she wanted to be honest, Sansa had always felt rather separate from the rest of them and she had always chalked it up to her amnesia, but maybe there was something else to it. Robb had talked about it before, about how they'd always been separate or "apart" from the rest of the family. Maybe that was how it happened. Together they had been a team, and everyone else had been interlopers in some way.

What would life be like if she went back without Robb? The thought of it made her shudder. Arya would make her life hell. Bran and Rickon…who knew? But her mother would never let her alone. She'd maybe even put her in some kind of home to get help for what she thought was a sickness. Her father…would he ever understand? Would he be able to look at her the same way again? Would he just see her as sick? As some kind of victim? And how much would that piss her off – how much did it _already_ piss her off to think that they saw Robb as some kind of sick sexual deviant? She had been as much involved as he had been. She was the one that had kissed him the first time. She was the one that had been waiting for him in his bed when he'd returned from that disastrous double date. She was the one that had done all the research to get them where they were.

 _You would never see Robb again._

That fact felt like a knife to her heart. If their mother had been diligent in trying to keep them apart before, she would be downright militant now. So would their Dad most likely.

Again, she thought of how Robb had been utterly alienated on the phone and she grew even angrier. God, how had that felt for him? And then she'd gone and had to _think_ about it?

There was no life without Robb. He _was_ her life. He was her _everything_.

It was then that Sansa realized she hadn't had to think to make a decision. The decision had already been made. She'd had to think to make _peace_ with her decision, and to make peace with the fact that yes, her family was going to turn their backs on them.

When Robb had returned home it was as if he'd awoken her from a deep sleep. Her life had been pleasant enough, if not a little boring, but she'd been content. Then Robb had come home and though confusion had reigned supreme there for a while, there was also the fact that she had fallen in love with him. Head over heels, completely and utterly in love with him. The thought of not being able to see him every day? Of not feeling his arms around her? Of not seeing his smile and hearing his voice?

Life wouldn't be worth living without Robb. Plus, how could she leave him alone – how could she go knowing there was no hope for him to return to the family fold? Nope. They were in this together, just as they had promised each other.

Sansa got up and practically ran back to the apartment. She was a woman on a mission and she just wanted to get it over with so it wasn't hanging over them like a dark cloud. Her phone was on the coffee table, just as she'd left it. Robb shuffled out of the bedroom just as Sansa picked up her phone and dialed her mother.

Robb stood frozen in place, watching her. Sansa came over to him and kissed him on the cheek just as her mother picked up.

"Sansa? I didn't expect to hear from you so soon," Catelyn said.

"I'd already made my choice when I left, Mom," Sansa said, looking straight at Robb as she spoke. "And just for the record, Robb didn't force me into anything. I was falling in love with him long before I'd even remembered I loved him once before. I was the one that did the research on moving and what it would entail. I wanted this, just as he did. You can think it's about sex all you want, but we know the truth and that's all that matters. I am totally butt-crazy in love with Robb, and I can't leave him. I won't. He is my everything and the only thing I regret is making him doubt how much I love him and need him and can't live without him. I know you can't understand, and I'm not going to try. I love you, Mom, I do. And I love Dad and Arya, Bran, and Rickon, but I'm not coming home and you can't guilt me into doing so. My home is with Robb."

There was a long silence on Catelyn's end of the phone, and in that time the biggest smile Sansa had ever seen spread over Robb's face.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sansa," Catelyn said. "You know how to reach me if you change your mind and I hope you will."

"I won't. Goodbye, Mom." Sansa's voice shook, despite her stance.

"Goodbye, Sansa."

The call ended and Sansa felt as if the weight she'd been carrying around had left. She knew now what she was facing and now she and Robb just had to deal with it. Their lives could begin now, or so it felt to her, now that they knew what the story was from home.

"You meant that?" Robb asked.

She nodded. "I was out there on the pier and thinking about the family and what life would be like without you… there isn't a life without you, Robb. I don't think I really had to think about what I was going to do; I already knew. I just had to make my peace with it so that I could put it behind me. That's not to say I won't have my moments, but my life is with you. I love you. Please say you believe that."

He came over to her and kissed her, one hand on the side of her face. "I do now."

"You promised me something earlier…"

"What was that?"

"To take me to bed? Will you do that now?"

He smirked. "I don't know...I mean, that would make this all about sex, wouldn't it?"

She smacked him playfully on the arm and laughed. He did, too, and then swooped her up in his arms and carried her to bed.

* * *

So, there is probably one chapter left of this. How do you guys feel about a sequel?


	35. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

 **Three Years Later**

 **Wales, UK**

"You must be very proud of your wife," The principal of Sansa's school said to Robb as they stood together in the back of Sansa's classroom.

It was a bit hectic at the moment with students and parents wanting to say their goodbye's to Sansa after the kindergarten graduation had wrapped up. Sansa was a fabulous teacher just as Robb knew she would be, and the kids and their parents loved her. And she loved them. Robb could tell she was trying not to cry as she spoke with one of her favorite students. No doubt she was telling them they could come and visit her anytime they wanted.

Robb smiled fondly as he watched her. "I am very proud of my wife."

No, they hadn't been able to have an official ceremony, but they had their own on a beach in California shortly after purchasing wedding bands. After all they'd been through, it didn't matter to them that they couldn't get "officially" married. Their vows to each other meant just as much (if not more) and were just as binding as any ceremony performed by a priest or JP.

It had been quite a journey for them. After spending two years in California and getting what they needed to be able to live and work in the UK, they had finally made the move. It had been exciting and yet nerve-wracking, but they'd forged ahead and so far it had been a success.

Robb worked for a small but successful firm in Wales, and Sansa taught kindergarten. They both enjoyed what they did and most of all, they enjoyed coming home to each other in the evening. There was an even deeper freedom living in Wales than there had been in California. Sansa had commented that here, she felt like she could actually breathe. Robb agreed.

Shortly after Sansa had said goodbye to her mother in California, Arya had started sending text messages to her that had just been downright cruel. So, Robb decided it was time for them to get new numbers.

Robb knew it bothered Sansa that they did not hear from their mother or father again, and truthfully it hurt him as well, but what could they do? Their life was together and they were not about to give it up for anyone or anything.

Robb waited patiently for Sansa to say goodbye to her last student, and when she did he took a watery-eyed Sansa in his arms and just held her while she told him how she was going to miss her students.

"Come on, let's get some dinner," Robb said and kissed her forehead. "You must be starving."

She sighed and nodded. "I am." She looked longingly around her classroom one last time and then Robb led her out to the car.

They went to one of their favorite restaurants and Robb said nothing when Sansa had more than one glass of wine. She deserved it, and if she got a little tipsy, so what? She was allowed and she deserved it.

After dinner, they went home and Robb helped a giggly and wobbly Sansa up to bed in the townhouse they were renting. She lay sprawled out on the bed while Robb took off her shoes, and she watched him with a small smile on her face.

She held up her arms. "Come here, please."

Robb grinned and crawled onto the bed and straight into her arms. He kissed her sweetly again and again. Her eyes were shut and she had a dreamy smile on her face. Robb ran his fingers through her hair and she popped her eyes open and looked up at him.

"Sweetheart…" he began.

"Hmmm?"

"Does it bother you that we can't have kids? I mean – do you want them?"

"It only bothers me when I think how you might want them. As for me? I like our life as it is. I like it just being us. I have my kids during the day and then I get to come home to you and we can do whatever we want. I like that. What about you? Does it bother you that we can't have them?"

"I won't lie; I would love to have a little girl or boy that we made, but I know the dangers involved in that."

She frowned. "Is it something you can live without having?"

"I think we've already concluded that the only thing I can't live without is you, Sansa."

He leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him by putting a finger to his lips. "Are you sure, Robb?"

He nodded. "Yes. I love our life, too. I'm not going to get greedy after all we've been through. This, here, with you, is enough." She didn't look convinced. "Sweetheart, I mean that. I only asked because I know how much you loved your students. I didn't know if a part of you was sorry that we couldn't have kids."

She shook her head. "I am happy as we are."

He smiled. "Me too. May I kiss you now?"

She broke into a wide smile and nodded.

Before he kissed her though, he muttered against her lips. "Say it."

She giggled softly. "I love you, Robb."

He smiled. "I love you, Sansa." And then he finally kissed her.

I cannot believe this is it. I loved writing this story so much. I love these two!

* * *

So, I have a couple ideas kicking around in my head for them and thought I'd ask what you guys think.  
1\. A sequel to this in which an event forces Robb and Sansa home to face their family.  
2\. A new story in which Robb and Sansa are the only ones left alive after a house fire. They cling to each other in their grief and perhaps hold on a little TOO tight and get a little TOO close because now they realize they only want each other...

Thoughts?


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